Press Release on the Rejection of Visas for University of Garmian Colleagues

The Italian Network for Kurdish Studies wishes to make public the following: the Italian Consulate in Erbil (Autonomous Region of Kurdistan in Iraq) has rejected the visa applications of four colleagues, professors at the University of Garmian, who were due to reach the University of Turin on 26 and 27 March to participate in the International Study Days of our Network, entitled “The Kurdistan Freedom Movement at a Crossroads: Historical Roots, Ideological Shifts and Reconfiguration Processes”.

The International Study Days of the Italian Network for Kurdish Studies will be attended by dozens of academics, activists and political representatives from various countries in Europe and the Middle East to address the current dynamics of mobilisation and reconfiguration within the liberation movements and processes of Kurdistan and Kurdish political organisations.

Despite the closure of Iraqi airports, our colleagues from Garmian University had planned to attend in person via alternative routes. The Italian authorities in Erbil rejected the visa applications of all four colleagues, citing an alleged lack of valid reasons for their departure. As the information regarding the academic initiative and the stay had been shared with the Consulate, we took it upon ourselves to contact its offices in recent days to find a solution, without receiving any response. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation replied to our request for clarification, stating that the sole point of contact on this matter can be the Consulate itself.

We express our deep concern at the refusal of visas to our four esteemed colleagues, all the more so at a time like this. There is a dignity to scientific and research activity that cannot be called into question by denying academics the freedom to travel. Given the gravity of the situation in Iraq and across the entire region, we believe it is all the more important that Iraqi citizens have the opportunity to travel to Italy, also within the context of initiatives that facilitate and foster an understanding of political developments, dialogue between nations, political organisations and Kurdish, Iraqi, Italian and international political representatives, at a time when the region is dominated by brutal violence, the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people, military aggression and distorted and self-serving forms of communication by the institutions that have unleashed repression or war.

Italian Network for Kurdish Studies