The article below was published by the Washington Kurdish Institute (WKI) on April 18, 2016.
A representation office of the Rojava administrative region, also known as ‘Western Kurdistan’ in Syria has been opened in Sweden’s capital city Stockholm with a ceremony attended by MPs, NGO representatives and hundreds of people from Kurdistan, Turkey and Sweden.
YPJ Commander in Attendance
Tev-Dem Co-chair Sinem Muhammed and Assyrian National Council Chair Bassam İshak cut the ceremonial ribbon. The Commander of the Kurdish Women’s Protection Units (YPJ), Nesrin Abdullah, Cizire Canton Foreign Minister Abdulkerim Omar and the Greens Foreign Policy Representative Valter Mutt attended the ceremony.
Cîzre Canton Foreign Minister Abdulkerim Omar gave a speech after PYD Sweden representative Şiyar Ali greeted the attendees and said the Rojava representation office was home to not only Kurds, but all oppressed peoples, Assyrian, Armenian, Ezidi and all other peoples who are under oppression.
Assyrian National Council Chair Bassam İshak said he was honored to be opening the Rojava representation office and continued to say the true fight for freedom against ISIS gangs in Syria was fought by the Democratic Forces of Syria, headed by the YPG which includes Arabs, Kurds and Assyrians.
After the opening ceremony, Tev-Dev Co-chair Sinem Muhammed, Assyrian National Council Chair Bassam İshak, YPJ Commander Nesrin Abdullah held a joint press conference. Swedish media showed great interest in the conference and several journalists interviewed Nesrin Abdullah.
[To read more, visit WKI]
