Halabja Delegation Joins Global Mayors for Peace Conference in Nagasaki

PUKMEDIA

The Halabja delegation at the Mayors for Peace Conference in Nagasaki, Japan.

Representatives of the Kurdistan Region took part in the 11th General Conference of Mayors for Peace, held in the Japanese city of Nagasaki and concluding on Sunday, 10 August 2025.

The annual conference is organised to coincide with the anniversary of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This year’s event marked the 80th anniversary of the bombing.

Dr Ranjdar Mohammed Aziz, Assistant to the President of Halabja University and a member of the Kurdistan Region’s delegation, told PUKMEDIA: “We visited Nagasaki, Japan, at the official invitation of the international Mayors for Peace organisation. The purpose of our visit was to attend the 11th General Conference of Mayors for Peace, organised to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki.”

He added that the four-day conference, hosted by the Nagasaki Mayor’s Office, addressed issues including peace, the creation of a world free of nuclear weapons, political stability, environmental protection, education, and poverty reduction.

On the Kurdistan Region’s participation, Dr Aziz explained: “We participated as four representatives of the Kurdistan Region and as residents of Halabja. Halabja holds an important position in the organisation, has a deputy role, and is recognised as the capital of peace in the Kurdistan Region.”

The Mayors for Peace organisation, founded in 1982, has approximately 9,000 member cities worldwide. Many attended the conference in person, while others joined via video link, including UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

The Co-Mayor of Kurdish city of Amed (Diyarbakir) in North Kurdistan was also in attendance.



PUKMEDIA