On Friday, May 3, 2024, a delegation led by Governor of Erbil Omed Khoshnaw visited the Mardin Municipality in Turkiye and was received by Mardin Metropolitan Municipality co-mayors Devrim Demir and Ahmet Turk, where he underlined hopes to revive the peace process in Turkiye.
During the meeting, Governor Khoshnaw extended congratulations to the mayors of Mardin and other municipalities for their success in the recent municipal elections that took place in the country’s 81 provinces on March 31, 2024. Both are members from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party, which won many municipalities in the Kurdish-majority southeast of Turkiye.
According to a press statement, Governor Khoshnaw emphasized the significance of restarting the peace process to address the Kurdish issue in Turkiye.
The decades-long armed conflict between Turkiye and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has left tens of thousands killed and many more injured or displaced. Both sides had previously entered a peace process in 2013 in hopes of permanently ending the prolonged bloodshed, but the ceasefire collapsed in 2015.
Governor Khoshnaw highlighted former Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani’s role as the architect of the peace process in Turkiye, underlining his emphasis on its importance and the need for ongoing negotiations.
Stressing that the time has come to resolve the Kurdish issue through peace, dialogue, and mutual understanding in Turkiye, he said that “we must seize every opportunity for peace.”
Governor Khoshnaw further underlined that the “Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is fully committed to exerting any necessary efforts to reinitiate and ensure the success of the peace process.”
Mardin Metropolitan Municipality co-mayors Demir and Turk conveyed their appreciation of Governor Khoshnaw’s visit, expressing their gratitude and conveying their regards to former President Masoud Barzani, current Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani, and the KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani.
According to a statement from the Erbil Governor’s Office, the Mardin Metropolitan Municipality co-mayors expressed their hope that the Kurdistan Region would continue to play a significant role in restarting the peace process in Turkiye, as it has done in the past, and underlined that the Turkish government should take the lead in initiating reconciliation and unconditionally restarting peace negotiations.
Previously, on Monday, April 29, 2024, the delegation led by Governor Khoshnaw had arrived in Diyarbakir to participate in the Mesopotamia Tourism Exhibition, scheduled to take place from April 30 to May 4.
Governor Khosnaw also visited the municipalities of Cizre, Van, and Diyarbakir and met with various Kurdish parties and visited cultural sites and local factories.
On May 2, 2024, Governor Khoshnaw also visited Mehmet Rasit, the local branch head of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party in Diyarbakir).
“During our discussions with the political parties, we emphasized the importance of restarting the peace process as the sole path to resolving issues,” Khoshnaw said during the meeting with the AK Party branch head.
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Previously, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on April 22 traveled to Iraq and the Kurdistan Region for the first time in 13 years and met with top Kurdish leaders.
During the meeting with Rasit, Governor Khoshnaw also emphasized the importance of “enhancing and advancing bilateral relations between the Kurdistan Region and Turkiye.”
He also highlighted the importance of the meetings held between Turkish President Erdogan with Kurdistan Democratic Party President Masoud Barzani, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani, and KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani.
