ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - President Masoud Barzani on Saturday attended the International Melaye Ciziri Symposium in southeast Turkey.
"It is one of the happiest days of my life to participate today in Cizir in the fourth symposium on Melaye Ciziri, who is a great symbol for us," Barzani said. "Mullah al-Jaziri is a bright star that will never set."
"Ciziri's poems never grow old," he added. "The deeper you delve into his work, the closer you feel to him."
During his speech, Barzani recited several of Ciziri's poems.
The two-day symposium is being held in the Cizre district of Sirnak province and has drawn significant interest from scholars, officials, and members of the public.
This year’s event highlights the life, works, and moral philosophy of Ciziri, a renowned Kurdish scholar, poet, and literary figure born in the 16th century, under the theme “Mullah Jaziri’s Understanding of Ethics.”
The symposium has brought together 111 academics from 23 Turkish universities, as well as 16 international participants from the Kurdistan Region, Iran, Syria, and Germany.
Peace process in Turkey
"We were very pleased with the start of the process. We can see that this time it has progressed very well because the nation, the parliament, and all political parties are supporting the state."
Barzani thanked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the parliament for "opening the door to peace."
"It was the best decision and the right path to take," Barzani added.
The KDP leader also thanked jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, who he said "has taken positive steps."
"I would like to say that we are also giving our full support to the peace process."
In February, Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the PKK, called on his followers to lay down their arms and dissolve the organization he founded in 1978. The PKK complied by May. The group, rebranded as the Kurdistan Freedom Movement, has since taken additional measures to advance the peace process, most recently withdrawing its fighters from the strategic Mount Zap in Duhok province — an area Turkish forces had long struggled to capture.
A delegation from the Turkish parliamentary commission overseeing PKK disarmament and peace talks held its first meeting with Ocalan earlier this week. The 51-member commission was formed to establish a legal framework for negotiations between Ankara and the PKK.
A senior official from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) said on Thursday that Ocalan should be allowed to communicate directly with the public and with political parties in Turkey as part of the initiative aimed at ending decades of conflict.
Updated at 10:53am