Mankind has left behind the age of old dictatorial and colonial empires, which imposed the fact of division and partition on our homeland and people through compulsory annexation to new entities that came into. being as a result of World Wars I and II.
Under the bipolar system and the cold war, we suffered the devastation of our community's infra structure, distortion of the economic and social aspects of our life, and the forcible changes in the demographic and historical features- of Kurdistan and its people. We have remained resolute in the face of increasing devastation, suppression, deportation and genocide campaigns, including the use of chemical and biological mass destruction weapons against our people.
With the beginning of the new world system and globalization, the exodus of millions of our people took place, escaping genocidal campaigns which consequently and under the affect of human rights and international media pressures, the Safe Haven was set up in 1991 at the 36 parallel in Kurdistan by a coalition of allies led by the USA and in order to defer the Iraqi regime.
Today, as we are nearing the end of 20th century, our people remains the largest divided nation on earth with no entity of its own, while the world has witnessed the emergence of many new national entities for smaller nations who have not experienced the sufferings we have endured. As we are entering the 21st century and while an increasing number of some 190 nations occupy their seats in the United Nations, the Kurds remain the sole exception.
The protection provided in the Spring of 1991, in addition to the international concern and attention shown especially by the United States and the European countries, created a unique opportunity for us to prove our ability in managing our own administration; to have our elected parliament, from which emerged a regional government and a multi-party system that gives wide freedoms of expression and publishing, and respect for human rights, under very complicated and difficult circumstances; in brief, the successive wars waged against us by different Iraqi governments and lasting more than three decades, including eight years of Gulf War I which turned Kurdistan into a battlefield, and the negative consequences of the golf war II, i.e., the continued double blockade on our Kurdish people; the international community sanctions imposed on the Iraqi regime of which we are victims, and the Blockade of the regime on the region, in addition to the regional threats and our own internal problems.
Since the central government's withdrawal from Kurdistan in October 1991, we have managed our own affairs under an elected parliamentary system that enjoys pluralism, insures general freedoms and respect for the rights of national and religious minorities coexisting in the Kurdistan region. However, we remain threatened by many dangers facing our democratic experiment and the future of our people and its declared federal entity. While we do not allow this fear to discourage us from the defense and promotion of the experiment, our people need to feel that they are not left alone in the middle of this volatile spot of the world and we hope that such support could come in a more tangible manner and wider in scope from the International community, especially the United States and European countries through more clearly and defined stands in securing our federal entity; by clear decisions concerning the future changes in the ruling regime in Baghdad; or by putting Iraqi Kurdistan under United Nations' protection, in order to avert future catastrophes and to safeguard peace and stability in the region.
The President of the Iraqi
Kurdistan National Assembly
Revised: 17-12-2000 by Jowanna Atroushi
