Can the Middle East learn how you can respect religious freedom from Kurdistan?

The European Parliament has heard how Kurdistan can act as a model of spiritual tolerance for the broader Middle East.

Kurdistan is the region of the Middle East traditionally inhabited by the Kurdish people. It just isn’t an independent sovereign state and, as a region, overlaps with a variety of countries, including Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria.

Speaking on the European Parliament, Awring Nawroz Shaways, founding president the Kurdish Genocide Lobby Center (KGLC), said that Kurdistan, while not perfect, had long been a spot of spiritual diversity.

Shaways noted that after the US invasion of Iraq and the following rise of ISIS, lots of of 1000’s of Christians fled to the region, where they were accepted into wider society, quite than being placed in refugee camps. 

“Christian families rebuilt their lives in Erbil, Duhok, and Sulaymaniyah. Churches were restored and expanded. Schools continued to operate in Syriac. Cultural traditions were preserved,” said Shaways.

“This is what many years of coexistence seem like in practice: not the absence of difference, however the presence of mutual respect.”

Christians, noted Shaways, are guaranteed representation within the Kurdish Parliament, ensuring that the concerns of their community or communities are heard.

While Shaways praised Kurdistan for its recognition of minority communities and usually good record on religious freedom and pluralism, he called for greater accountability and transparency, an education system that higher reflects Kurdistan’s diverse society, and “laws that explicitly protect against discrimination”.

“The significance of the Kurdistan Region extends beyond its borders. In the Middle East often characterised by division, it offers an example imperfect but meaningful [example] of what coexistence can seem like. It shows that diversity doesn’t must result in fragmentation,” he said. 

Shaways concluded his speech by saying, “The strength of any society is measured not by the dominance of 1 group, but by the dignity afforded to all.

“And in that measure, the Kurdistan Region has taken necessary and promising steps forward steps that, with the best framework and continued commitment, could serve not only its own people, but additionally the broader way forward for the Middle East.”