Latest news with #Feyli
Shafaq News
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Feyli Kurdish Front demands recognition, rights on 8th anniversary
Shafaq News/ On Saturday, the Feyli Kurdish Front marked its eighth anniversary with a ceremony in Baghdad, renewing its call for justice, legal recognition, and political inclusion. The event, held at the party's headquarters, brought together political leaders, civil society groups, and activists. Speakers highlighted the Feyli Kurds' long-standing grievances, including forced displacement, confiscated property, and systemic exclusion—urging enforcement of constitutional rulings in their favor. Speaking to Shafaq News, Maher Rashid al-Feyli, Secretary-General of the Front, reaffirmed the group's sole mandate to represent the community's interests, encouraging unity among Feyli Kurds and stressing that achieving formal political and legal status remains the movement's top goal. While open to cooperation with other Feyli organizations, he dismissed broader coalitions, accusing dominant parties of 'stalling efforts' to restore the community's rights. Deputy Secretary-General Hamid Rashid described the anniversary as a 'strategic moment' ahead of national elections, revealing that the Front is actively evaluating alliance offers. 'We're a political home for every Feyli Kurd. Institutional recognition remains our driving mission.' Shamil al-Feyli, Deputy Secretary-General of the al-Walaa Movement, called for unity among Feyli groups, framing the gathering as 'a reaffirmation of a shared struggle for dignity.' Meanwhile, Sabah Nour al-Din, head of the Front's Women's Committee, urged national parties to support the Feyli cause. 'Our suffering demands accountability,' she remarked to our agency, adding, 'Empowering the Feyli community must become a national responsibility.'
Shafaq News
4 days ago
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Seeking justice: Baghdad Symposium addresses Feyli rights
Shafaq News/ On Wednesday, Iraqi officials, legal experts, and human rights advocates gathered in Baghdad for a symposium focused on restoring the rights of Feyli Kurds. The event was organized by the Ministry of Culture's Feyli Cultural Center in cooperation with the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights. Discussions centered on legal accountability, citizenship restoration, property claims, and the unresolved issue of mass graves containing the remains of thousands of missing Feyli Kurds. Quais Hussein Ghayeb, director of the Commission's Minorities and Social Peace Division, said the Commission is prioritizing three key demands: reinstating citizenship for those stripped of it, compensating for seized assets, and locating and identifying mass grave sites. 'These issues are being followed up with relevant state institutions,' Ghayeb stated, noting ongoing complaints from Feyli citizens facing bureaucratic delays in recovering their nationality. He added that Baghdad's provincial council is actively supporting the citizenship file, and that the Council of Ministers has issued related recommendations. Ghayeb also highlighted legal and logistical challenges in investigating mass graves, citing current laws that restrict excavation to specific government entities. 'There is a legislative effort underway to resolve the contradiction between legal provisions and investigative needs." Feyli researcher Fereydoun Karim called the mass grave issue deeply complicated, alleging that some parties have obstructed efforts to uncover the fate of the disappeared. "Despite raising the matter with international actors, including the United Nations, there has been little tangible progress." Meanwhile, Lamia Adnan al-Mandlawi, institutional development official at Iraq's Scientific Complex, emphasized the importance of sustained follow-up. 'The symposium brought legal clarity to the Feyli Kurds' demands and reinforced the need for implementation on citizenship, property rights, and mass grave investigations,' she told Shafaq News.
Shafaq News
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Feyli Front hosts seminar on women's rights and inclusion
Shafaq News/ On Saturday, the Feyli Front hosted a seminar in Baghdad bringing together 30 women and girls from across Iraq's diverse communities to discuss the role of Feyli women in political and public life, women's rights, and social challenges. Nisreen Abdul-Aal, a trainer at the forum, told Shafaq News the session highlighted the importance of women's role in society and the structural conditions necessary to ensure their active participation, pointing out that discussions included economic and social challenges facing women, as well as issues of violence and blackmail that many women continue to endure. Additionally, the Head of the Women's Department at the association Sabah Nouraddin noted that the seminar served as a platform to present women's realities and explore collaborative solutions through mutual support. She also expressed her desire to see broader awareness efforts and increased representation for women in Iraqi society. Inas Al-Feyli, whose family members were detained as political prisoners under the former Al-Baath regime, said she is also from a family of martyrs. She hoped that injustice against Feyli women—and Iraqi women more broadly—would be addressed and that Feyli political movements would unite. Afrah Al-Khalidi, an educational supervisor, stressed the importance of preserving the stories of what Iraqi—especially Feyli—women endured under the former regime 'to prevent any distortion of the past,' adding, 'Some may claim the previous regime was a golden era, but reality tells a different story.' Jamila Nasser Al-Feyli, an employee at the Shiite Endowment Office, revealed that several new initiatives led by the Feyli Front are expected to be launched soon.
Shafaq News
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Martyrs Street: Baghdad honors Feyli Kurds
Shafaq News/ Iraqi authorities have renamed a major Baghdad thoroughfare 'Martyrs of the Feyli Kurds Street,' in the country's first official move to commemorate victims of the Baath regime's campaign against the Shiite Kurdish minority. The street runs from Karada through Nahdha to the outskirts of Sadr City and Palestine Street in eastern Baghdad. It houses hundreds of commercial establishments and holds symbolic weight for the Feyli community. 'This is the first time a street in Iraq has been named after the Feyli Kurdish martyrs,' Fuad Ali Akbar, parliamentary advisor on Feyli affairs, told Shafaq News, adding that the road was formerly known as 'Revolution Street' and that the Baghdad Provincial Council approved the renaming in 2017, although final endorsement came recently from the President. The Feyli Kurds, primarily based in eastern and central Iraq, were subjected to mass deportations, executions, and denaturalization during the late 1970s and 1980s under Saddam Hussein's government. Tariq al-Mandalawi, an advisor to the Prime Minister on Feyli affairs, confirmed that 16,350 Feyli Kurds are registered as martyrs with the government's Martyrs Foundation, part of an estimated 60,000 executed during the former regime's campaign. Despite multiple court rulings recognizing the genocide, implementation of compensation laws and institutional reforms has been slow. Officials and community representatives view the renaming as a symbolic but long-overdue step toward acknowledgment and historical justice.
Shafaq News
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Cancellation of the "Feyli Genocide Commemoration"!
Shafaq News/ Amid worsening financial and administrative crises and the spread of corruption within the relevant institutions, a pressing question arises: Is there still hope for improving the conditions of the Feyli Kurds despite the modesty of their demands? Supporting this cause requires active involvement from political and governmental actors, who—although they have not given the issue sufficient attention in the past—still possess the ability to play a meaningful role in crafting practical solutions. The activities held in April remain the only formal discussions and commemorations, albeit limited, and have faced many fluctuations in recent years. At times, this process has led to positive decisions and events, and at other times, to mixed outcomes—underscoring the complexity of a path that requires engagement with authorities, political movements, legal institutions, and executive bodies, in an effort to ease the pain and consequences of this catastrophe. In recent years, there has been a noticeable increase in commemorating the tragedy, thanks to the role of nationalist and sectarian groups, along with the efforts of dedicated individuals—whether they hold influence within power structures or are volunteers who have contributed according to their means. The names of these individuals should not be overlooked when this occasion is remembered. Since 2004, the process of commemorating the tragedy has gone through several phases, with public and official participation ranging from wide attendance to hesitant presence. Today, the political, parliamentary, and governmental landscape includes a considerable number of Feyli figures, who—depending on their level of concern and sense of responsibility—can contribute to strengthening and institutionalizing this commemoration as one of Iraq's major national occasions, and among the most impactful in raising awareness of the genocidal crimes committed in the country. There is no doubt that our individual and collective efforts, combined with serious governmental support, can help expose these crimes, erase their effects, and compensate for the damage caused by the former Ba'athist regime. Despite the establishment of dozens of Feyli social and political organizations, they have—due to various reasons—so far failed to unify their efforts into effective collective activities. Nevertheless, it can be fairly said that national commitment remains a point of light that justifies the legitimacy of the Feyli Kurds' objections, especially at a time when Shiite political forces acknowledge—and even condemn in their literature—that the displacement and genocide of the Feylis constitute crimes that do not expire with time. Therefore, any talk of erasing or downplaying this massacre, however one chooses to label it, is entirely out of the question. Based on this awareness, it is essential to intensify efforts to protect the material and moral rights of the genocide survivors, whose officially registered victims at the Martyrs Foundation exceed 16,000.
