A two-day conference titled 'Towards Kurdish identity and Independence In The Era of Globalization' has kicked off in Sulaimani city of South Kurdistan to mark the centenary of the Sykes-Picot Agreement.

The conference in the University of Sulaimani is being attended by intellectuals and political representatives as well as sociologist and historian İsmail Beşikçi, PUK Politburo official Mele Bahtiyar, South Kurdistan Deputy Prime Minister Qubat Talabani, PYD co-chair Saleh Moslem and many academics, authors and historians. American intellectual Noam Chomsky also joined the conference with a video message.

BAHTİYAR: WE DEMAND FREEDOM

Making the opening speech of the conference, PUK Politburo official Mele Bahtiyar pointed out that the independence of Kurdistan was the dream of the Kurdish people, and that peshmerga, guerrilla forces will achieve this goal. Bahtiyar criticised western states for treating Kurds from a military perspective alone, stressing that Kurds remained alone when it came to their demands for political recognition and status. He said the attitude manifested in Geneva talks indicated such a danger.

TALABANİ: KURDS WILL EVENTUALLY BECOME INDEPENDENT

Speaking after, South Kurdistan Deputy Prime Minister Qubat Talabani also remarked that the Kurdish people have sought for independence for a long time, and that they will attain it sooner or later.

MOSLEM: WE WON'T ALLOW A SECOND SYKES-PICOT

PYD co-chair Saleh Moslem who attends the conference as speaker evaluated the level reached by Kurdish politics today on the basis of the Rojava experience.

Responding to criticism over the "untimely declaration of federation in Rojava", Moslem said; "While some circles assess the federation declaration as disintegration, we on the contrary call it democratization. We want this declaration of federation to be discussed in Geneva talks and seen as a resolution project, yet some do not want this to happen as they reject not only everyone's participation in talks but also our project."

Moslem said they also needed to be present at the table in order for the achievement of a solution, adding; "Talks are being held with us, too, behind the scene. They are asking us our thoughts, and we tell them that we need to be at the table of talks. Some powers impose the Geneva talks as a second Sykes-Picot on the Kurdish people but we will not allow this to happen."

BEŞİKÇİ: STATES ARE DETERMINING THE DESTINY OF KURDS

Speaking after, sociologist and historian İsmail Beşikçi said there were five borders that separated the Kurds today.

Beşikçi stressed that the parliamentarians in the European Council who vote for the present borders in the Middle East to remain unchanged belonged to states with several tens of thousands, and these spoke to determine the destiny and future of Kurds who are as many as 50 million.

"Kurds must come up with a solution to this problem", said Beşikçi, adding that the United Nations rejected transoceanic colonialism but approved the colonization of united lands such as Kurdistan.

The conference will resume tomorrow.