Head of Kurdish community of Armenia: One should expect Kurds to shortly gain autonomy not only in Syria but also in Turkey

• Friday, August 17, 17:21

The Kurds living in Syria support neither the government nor the opposition, they are fighting to gain autonomy, which they will by all means receive regardless of the outcome of the domestic political crisis in that country, Knyaz Hasanov, Head of the Kurdish community of Armenia, told ArmInfo.

He said that there are all the necessary premises in Syria to create autonomy. "The Kurds will gain autonomy in any case - both in case of the government's victory, because President Assad's plans include such a scenario, and the opposition's victory, as the opposition cannot ignore the powerful Kurdish community of 3-4 mln people", he stressed. Hasanov added that neither the West nor the United States is able to hinder the creation of the Kurdish autonomy in Syria. "The Kurds were oppressed in Syria. Even today, the Kurds' nationality in their passports is mentioned as Arab, however, there are 6-7 large Kurdish- populated towns in Syria. Due to our efforts, Kurdish language classes are held at Syrian schools", he said.

Hasanov pointed out that after Syria, the Kurds will activate the fight for creation of autonomy in Turkey.  "We already have autonomy in Iraq, we will shortly gain autonomy in Syria, and then in Turkey.  There are nearly 20 million Kurds in that country. The Turkish Kurds do not want to put up with their humiliating state and are going to fight for their rights. This is why the Turks have become panic-stricken, they perfectly realize the coming danger and therefore are committing a genocide against Kurds, persecuting the Kurdish activists, sending them to jail, torturing them", he said. He added that more than 10 Turkish soldiers die every day as a result of Kurdish-Turkish clashes, and there are nearly 10 thsd Kurdish activists in Turkish prisons, of them 1500 women. "They are sexually assaulted", he said.