An open letter by Dr Amir Sharifi, director Kurdish Human Rights Advocacy Group, based in California, to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon:
Los Angles – January 8, 2014
To his Excellency Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon:
I am writing this letter to you on behalf of the Kurdish Human Rights Advocacy Group (KHRAG) and various Kurdish Communities in Southern California to express our support for the participation of the Kurdish Supreme Council in the Geneva II conference, scheduled to take place on January, 22, 2014.
We are encouraged by your persistent effort for an international response in the face of the insurmountable difficulties. Syrians are profoundly affected by a deep crisis that threatens to expand with even greater catastrophic regional and global consequences. As you are aware, the tragedy has also had very serious consequences for Kurds who have been discriminated against under the reign of Bashar al-Assad and now face an uncertain and bleak future. While they have been the targets of criminal attacks and threats of Islamists and Al Qaida linked groups on the one hand, Syrian opposition forces of all persuasions have adamantly refused to recognize their most fundamental human rights.