MERI Forum Distorts the Kurdish Cause in Other Parts of Kurdistan, Source Says

ARK News.. A Kurdish media source has accused the MERI Forum of distorting the Kurdish cause in other parts of Kurdistan by inviting leaders of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which it blamed for bringing hardship and tragedy to Kurds in Western and Northern Kurdistan.

The Kurdish website “Kişey Xelk” published a report on its Facebook page about the annual MERI Forum held in Erbil. The report stated that, although the forum is held annually in the Kurdistan Region under the management of Dr. Dilawar Alaaddin, the Kurdish cause is repeatedly misrepresented at the event.

According to the report, some figures and groups that have consistently opposed the Kurdish cause are presented as representatives of Kurds in Western and Northern Kurdistan. It identified the PKK as one such group.

Eastern Kurdistan

Regarding discussions about Eastern Kurdistan, the source said that even if Iranian Kurdish opposition parties were unable to participate for any reason, dozens of writers, researchers, intellectuals, and academics from the region could speak about the Kurdish cause there.

Northern Kurdistan

On Northern Kurdistan, the report said the forum’s approach amounted to presenting the PKK’s image while overlooking the region’s hundreds of capable and prominent political and national figures.

It added that the people invited to receive attention were exclusively affiliated with the PKK, while many Kurds had become deeply skeptical of the party’s four-decade struggle for the Kurdish cause in Northern Kurdistan. Some, it said, believe that this struggle has contributed to the Kurdish cause reaching a critical stage in the region.

Western Kurdistan

Regarding Western Kurdistan, which the report described as facing sensitive security conditions, the source said the forum had invited a group of people who were all affiliated with the PKK, once again portraying the party as the representative of the region’s Kurds.

The report argued that Western Kurdistan had experienced numerous hardships and tragedies over the past 15 years, many of which it attributed to the PKK. It said the region’s subsequent condition demonstrated the consequences of the party’s role.

The source added that other Kurdish political forces and figures who defend the Kurdish cause and could offer alternative perspectives had not been invited, while PKK leaders continued to receive invitations.

The report concluded by calling on the MERI Forum to reconsider its approach, avoid distorting the Kurdish cause, and provide a platform for the voices of all parts of Kurdistan through their genuine representatives rather than those it accused of contributing to the tragedies affecting the Kurdish cause.

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