March for peace Perugia Assisi 1999

THE TWINNING BETWEEN PERUGIA AND DIYARBAKIR

Agenda (*)

The Town Council

SINCE

The election held on April 18, 1999 has renewed the Turkish local authorities, including Diyarbakir's, a town with Kurdish population, whose Town Council is interested in starting a twinning with Italian Town Councils;

CONSIDERING THAT

The Perugia Town Council has been engaged for years in the protection of human rights and the development of pro-peace activities with all the peoples in the world;

The Third Assembly of the United Nations of the Peoples, which will be held in our town in September, will host a delegation from the town of Diyarbakir, together with representatives of the organisations in defence of the rights of the Kurdish people;

CONSIDERING

The importance of being engaged in the cause of the Kurdish people, as well as in those of any people striving for their fundamental rights,

WE DECLARE THAT

The Mayor and the executive councillors commit themselves to undertake initiatives aimed at developing a twinning between the towns of Perugia and Diyarbakir.

The Town Council Group Leaders

(*) This is the first official statement in Italy concerning a twinning with a Kurdish town in Turkey. The only known precedent is the twinning between the town of Ivrea and a Kurdish city, located in the Iraqi Kurdistan.

This statement was presented by the Group Leaders of the Council Assembly belonging to the following political parties: Prc (Communist Refoundation Party), Pdci (Party of the Italian Communists), Ds (Democratic Party of the Left) and approved with 22 votes in favour, some abstentions and no dissenting votes. The vote took place in the Assembly of the Perugia Town Council on September 20, 1999.

(These texts were translated from Italian by Sabrina Fusari)