‘It’s like a funeral in every home’: Leitrim hurler says Irish Kurds feel ‘betrayed'

“It is like there is a funeral in every Kurdish household,” said Zak Moradi, Leitrim hurling veteran and writer.

Thousands of people have been made refugees after Syrian forces pressed into Kurdish-controlled north-east earlier this month as the Government looks to unify the country.

Plans for integration have collapsed as Kurdish people fear oppression under the new Syrian Islamist-led government.

“The world has kind of stayed silent, and the Kurds are disgusted with what's actually happening,” said Moradi, who was born in the Kurdistan region of Iraq before moving to Leitrim as a child and going on to play hurling for the county.

The Kurds, numbering around 50 million, are the world's largest stateless ethnic group, who were split between Northern Iraq, North-Eastern Syria, Southern Turkey, and Western Iran following the European countries after WW1. 

Last week, Syrian forces halted their incursion outside a cluster of Kurdish-held cities in the northeast, giving the Kurdish forces two weeks to propose a plan to integrate with Syria's army, according to Reuters.

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Civil war

The Kurdish-led forces, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), have run the North -East since winning the region from ISIS, with the backing of the US, during the 14-year civil war that led to the toppling of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, last year.

“We got rid of all the extremists,” said Moradi. “The Kurdish people now, who lost 50,000 people so Europe didn't have to put soldiers on the ground, and the Kurdish people fought on behalf of the world, not only for themselves but for everybody around the world.”

Moradi is one of the millions of Kurds displaced by war and sectarian violence in Syria and Iraq. He has maintained his connection to where he came from, returning to Al-Hash refugee camp in Iraq during his documentary, ‘Home: The Story of Zak Moradi.’

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The Kurds enjoyed autonomy in the area over the last ten years, and while attempts were made to reach an integration agreement with Syria, these ultimately failed. With distrust on both sides, conflict erupted between the Syrian Government and the Kurdish forces earlier this month. 

The US and European countries, which backed the Kurdish forces when they fought ISIS, have withdrawn the backing they offered when they fought ISIS and are urging progress on intergration, which the Kurds feel is a betrayal. 

“There's a phrase we always say, we have no friends but the mountains, the mountains were the only ones who never betrayed us,” said Moradi.

“I kind of just lost respect for all the European countries and NATO, it's the same with all Kurdish people, we always had faith in European people and democracy, but they just do things that suit them and suit their political agenda.”

Lack of attention

He is critical of the lack of attention the situation has received in Ireland and the silence of the Irish government on this topic.

 “They are very quick to criticise Israel, and I feel like there is a massive double standard in this country.”​

“I just can’t believe what I am after seeing. When you say free Kurdistan, free Kurdish people, people seem to be looking the other way, but if you said free Palestine tomorrow, they would all jump on the bandwagon.”

“I kind of just lost respect for all the European countries and NATO, it's the same with all Kurdish people, we always had faith in European people and democracy, but they just do things that suit them and suit their political agenda.” 

The European Commission was contacted for comment, but has not replied at the time of publication.