Kurdish diaspora prepare to vote on independence

San Diego Union-Tribune

Aug. 15, 2017 4 PM PT

Some members of San Diego’s Kurdish community will be able to vote in an upcoming referendum that could eventually make Kurdistan a separate country from Iraq.

Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, who represents the Kurdistan Regional Government in the U.S., explained to a full room in an El Cajon community center on Monday night why she believes it is important for the Kurdish diaspora to vote.She fielded questions in English, Kurdish and even one in Arabic. Many in the crowd of more than 130 nodded and cheered their approval, and some said afterwards that she erased any doubts they might have had.

“We have the democratic right to have self-determination,” Abdul Rahman said. “No one can deny us that right.”

The referendum will not make a new country overnight, Abdul Rahman said. It will give negotiating power to Kurdish leaders who hope to make a peaceful break from Baghdad. Once leaders from both sides come to an agreement, they will have to take it to the United Nations for a vote, she said.

Dilkhwaz Ahmed, CEO of License to Freedom, a nonprofit that supports domestic violence survivors in San Diego County, said that if Kurdistan becomes a country, she would consider moving there once her children finish school.

“I never was able to say, ‘I’m proud of my country,’” Ahmed said, “because it’s not a country.”

Country borders for Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey extend through areas that the Kurds call home. Abdul Rahman said that since those borders were drawn about 100 years ago, Kurds have faced persecution and hardship at the hands of dictatorships.

“Our language was denied. Our history was denied. Our culture was denied,” Abdul Rahman said. “We’ve suffered genocide. We’ve suffered chemical bombardment. It hasn’t been a happy experience to be part of Iraq.”

She said that Iraqi Kurds were hopeful that their situation would improve after the U.S. got rid of Saddam Hussein and Iraq wrote a new constitution. Key parts of the constitution have not been implemented, she said.

September’s referendum will vote only on Kurdish territory inside Iraq, Abdul Rahman said. Neighboring countries are nervous that they, too, might lose land to a new Kurdistan if it is successful. U.S. officials have asked Kurdish leaders to postpone the vote until after the Islamic State is defeated.

Members of Congress, Abdul Rahman said, are mixed on the issue, but she does not judge the ones who are against the vote.

“Friends can have disagreements,” she said.

Abdul Rahman said that because of the turmoil in Iraq’s history, she does not believe waiting for a conflict-free time makes sense.

“The people of Kurdistan have wanted an independent state their entire lives,” Abdul Rahman said. “So many people have died. So many people were trapped by Saddam’s dictatorship. So many people have given their lives fighting ISIS, and in their honor, we want to give our voice in this referendum.”

Peshmerga, or Kurdish military forces, have been heavily involved in the fight against the Islamic State. Iraqi Kurdistan, Abdul Rahman said, has become a haven for groups like the Yazidis who fled ISIS.

Many Kurds have themselves fled as refugees over the years to other parts of the world.

Abdul Rahman, who took refuge with her parents in United Kingdom when Saddam Hussein called for their executions, estimated that there are between 3,000 and 5,000 Kurds in San Diego County.

Hunar Bekhtyar, who attended the meeting with his mother, Sabiha Bekhtyar, came to the U.S. as a refugee in 1976 and has lived in El Cajon since 1989.

Even before he heard Abdul Rahman speak, Bekhtyar was convinced that it is time for Kurdistan’s independence.

“I would say it is now or never,” Bekhtyar said. “At least get the idea of the people, see what they want. If they want to live peacefully, they can divorce from Iraq. There is nothing wrong with that.”

Kurds wishing to vote in the referendum can register electronically between Sept. 1 and Sept. 7 and must submit two forms of Iraqi identification. They will be able to vote online during the Sept. 25 referendum.

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