Parliament Secretary Muna Kahveci meets USAID’s Special Representative for Minority Assistance Mr. Max Primorac
Kurdistan Parliament Secretary Muna Kahveci on 18th August met with Mr. Max Primorac, USAID’s Special Representative for Minority Assistance Programs in Iraq, to discuss minority rights legislation and political participation of all of Kurdistan’s religions and ethnicities.
Mr. Primorac was accompanied by the US Consulate’s Political and Economic Counsellor Mr. Andrew Lentz and Mr. Dler Sabir.
Secretary Kahveci and Mr. Primorac discussed the welfare of religious and ethnic minorities in the Kurdistan Region and their rights under Law No. 5 of 2015 on the protection of the rights of Kurdistan’s minority communities.
Ms. Kahveci, who is a member of the Turkmen Reform Party, said that Kurdistan’s ethnic and religious components enjoy political rights. She said that their participation in the region’s institutions can be increased by following a system similar to the Kurdistan Parliament’s quotas for ethnic and religious minority MPs, and by appointing people from minorities to positions in accordance with the law.
The Parliament Secretary thanked the U.S. government for supporting the Kurdistan Region and its minorities during the war against ISIS. She urged the US delegation to push the federal government to implement the Iraqi constitution and to recognize the crimes against the Yazidi people as genocide and compensate the victims and their families.
The Kurdistan Parliament on 5th August passed a resolution that officially designates 3rd August, the Shengal massacre, as Yazidi Genocide Remembrance Day, and that calls on the Government of Iraq to make reparations to the survivors and victims’ families, as per the provisions of the Iraqi Constitution.
Ms. Kahveci urged the U.S. to help normalise the situation in the Kurdistani areas outside the Kurdistan Region, such as Kirkuk, and to press the Iraqi government to work jointly with the Kurdistan Regional Government on appropriate legislation to solve outstanding problems.
Ms. Kahveci also said that it is important for the Kurdistan Region to have a constitution. A draft was worked on several years ago and it is hoped that the drafting can be resumed.
Mr. Primorac and his delegation thanked the Kurdistan Region for embracing IDPs and for being a model of peaceful coexistence. The delegation reaffirmed their capacity-building support for the Kurdistan Parliament and for the protection of the rights of all ethnic and religious components of society.
Law no. 5 of 2015 on the Protection of the Rights of Kurdistan’s Components ensures political participation and equal opportunities for minorities, bans discrimination and hate speech against them, bans policies that intentionally change the demography of their areas, and redresses past land seizures.
USAID (the United States Agency for International Development) is the US Government’s international development and humanitarian aid agency. Mr. Primorac was appointed as USAID’s Special Representative for Minority Assistance Programs in Iraq. US Vice President Mike Pence has pledged to support minorities who were persecuted by ISIS and asked USAID to appoint a special representative.
