Kurdistan National Congress

The Kurdistan National Congress (Kurdish: Kongreya Neteweyî ya Kurdistanê, KNC or KNK) is a multi-national platform of Kurdish groups and parties of all tendencies, which aims for the independence of Kurdistan. It was founded on 14 April 1985 on the initiative of the Kurdistan Workers' Party. It was inaugurated on 24 May 1999 in Brussels.[1][2] The group has more recently be referred to as the Kurdistan National Congress in the Diaspora.[3]

Not to be confused with Kurdish National Council.

Members of the Kurdistan National Congress with Kurdish Democratic Progressive Party representatives in January 2019.

The convention of the KNC was endorsed on 26 May 1999, at the organization's founding assembly, and the scholar Ismet Cheriff Vanly was declared the first president.[4] The convention was amended most recently at the ninth assembly which took place in December 2008.[5]

Recently, conferences held by the group have reaffirmed their wish that Kurds may have their national identity recognized and the territory of Kurdistan be respected.[6]

Composition

The congress is constituted by 288 members for the term from October 2017 to October 2019.[7]

President of the KNC until at least 1999 was Najmaldin Karim.[8] Two co-chairs of the KNK, Rebwar Rashed and Nilüfer Koç were elected to post on 27 September 2015 at the 15th General Meeting.[9] Both were re-elected on 15 October 2017.[9] In October 2019, Zainab Morad Sahrab and Ahmet Karamûs were elected for a term of two years.[10]

The KNK has several committees and commissions of which the commission for women is headed by Leyla Birlik and the Law committee is headed by Zübeyir Aydar.[11]

Criticism

Kurdish affairs expert Michael Gunter reckoned that the KNC has had difficulty attracting wide participation from Kurdish people, and has appeared to be too close to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).[12]

References
  1. Meho, Lokman I. (2004). The Kurdish Question in U.S. Foreign Policy: A Documentary Sourcebook. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 392. ISBN 9780313314353.
  2. Pojmann, W. (2008). Migration and Activism in Europe since 1945. Springer. p. 72. ISBN 9780230615540.
  3. "What kind of peace? The case of the Turkish and Kurdish peace process". openDemocracy. 9 July 2015. Archived from the original on 23 January 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  4. Gunter, Michael M. (2010). Historical Dictionary of the Kurds. Scarecrow Press. p. 180. ISBN 9780810875074.
  5. "Convention, Kurdistan National Congress". Kurdistan National Congress. 24 June 2016. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  6. Carment, David; Sadjed, Ariane (2017). Diaspora as Cultures of Cooperation: Global and Local Perspectives. Springer. p. 189. ISBN 9783319328928.
  7. "Members | Kurdistan National Congress". Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  8. Farkas, E. (2003). Fractured States and U.S. Foreign Policy: Iraq, Ethiopia, and Bosnia in the 1990s. Springer. p. 153. ISBN 9781403982438.
  9. "Co-President". Kurdistan National Congress. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  10. "Co-President | Kurdistan National Congress". Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  11. "Commissions and Committees | Kurdistan National Congress". Archived from the original on 28 October 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  12. Gunter, Michael M. (2018). Historical Dictionary of the Kurds. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 198. ISBN 9781538110508.

Official Webpage

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