Baloch Community Canada attends commemoration of 71st anniversary of the Republic of Kurdistan

Vancouver, (January 28th, 2017), The Baloch Community Canada has joined the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) to commemorate the 71 years of the establishment of the Republic of Kurdistan in Burnaby, Canada on Saturday.

The commemoration commenced with Kurdish national anthem followed by a minute of silence to pay respects to the martyrs of the freedom struggle.

Speaking on the occasion the Kurdish community representative Behzad Najafi said that (PDKI), was founded in Mahabad in Iranian Kurdistan in 1946 by Qazi Muhammad who became the first president of the Republic on January 22, 1946.

On December 15, 1946, after the fall of Republic, many PDKI leaders were arrested and hanged. Qazi Muhammad was charged with treason and executed on March 31, 1947.  The historians also refer the Republic of Kurdistan as the “Republic of Mahabad “, the reason being its choice of Mahabad as the capital.

He said the PDKI continue its struggle against the Iranian regime under the leadership of its current Secretary General Mr Mustafa Hijri.

The International Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (IVBMP) Canada coordinator Mr Aziz Baloch and Baloch Community of British Columbia representative Ayesha Naruie, Khuda Bakhsh Baloch along with others have also participated in the event.

Aziz Baloch thanked the Kurdish community for inviting them. He said Kurd and Baloch share a similar history of suffering under the occupation of their respective tyrant, fundamentalist, and oppressive Islamic countries.

He said the Kurd and Baloch are resilient nations they have never given up their rich culture, language, and homeland.

“Throughout history, they have been struggling for an independent, democratic, modern, and secular state of their own,” Mr Baloch added.

Ayesha Naruie, representative of Baloch community of British Columbia has also spoken in the event. She said that Balochistan like Kurdistan is also divided into three parts and both nations are facing similar problems.

“Hopefully one day we’ll get to the point where we’ll have our freedom and everybody will be safe and have a peaceful life in their own motherland,” She added.

Even though the Republic of Kurdistan and independence of Balochistan were short lived but the Kurdish and Baloch people continue their struggle to regain their freedom and have their free and democratic homelands.