SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The Kurdistan Region on Monday renamed a street in Erbil for former British prime Minister John Major, who was instrumental in the safe haven and no-fly zone that led to the formation of autonomous Kurdistan.
On April 5, 1991, the U.N. Security Council adopted Resolution 688 demanding the end of oppression against the Kurdish people, and opened a humanitarian corridor to deliver vital aid to the Kurdish refugees, who fled into the mountains.
The resolution later laid the foundation for UK, U.S. and France to establish no-fly zone, and to the formation of the autonomous Kurdistan Region.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) renamed a street after the former British prime minister during a ceremony in Erbil.
“When John Major sees the pictures of the street named after him, I know he will feel honored and humbled,” British Consul-General in Erbil James Thornton said during the ceremony. “What he did was surly important for this part of the world.”
“And what Saddam Hussein did in response to the Kurdish uprising of the beginning of 1991 was truly awful,” he continued, saying millions of Kurds fled into the mountains, Iran and Turkey.
Earlier on Monday, the U.S. Consulate-General in Erbil said the United States reaffirmed its commitment to stand with Kurdish people and to continue supporting the Region.
“On this day in 1991, the US helped in establishing a safe haven by imposing the NoFlyZone above 36th PL line in #Iraq to ensure the safety of the #Kurdish people. We reaffirms our commit. to stand with the Kurdish ppl and to continue supporting a strong IKR within a federal Iraq,” it said in a tweet.
