Morocco Backs Kabyle Self-Determination, Sparking Diplomatic Shift in North Africa

Ferhat Mehenni, president of the MAK, Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylia, and of the ANAVAD, Kabyle Provisional Government in exile, welcomed "a courageous and historic position in North Africa and for the entire African Union" of the right to self-determination of the Kabyle people, by Morocco through the voice of its permanent representative to the UN.

Mehenni stressed that "thanks to Morocco, the NAM (Non-Aligned Countries) have taken note of the legitimacy of Kabylia to sovereignly decide its future", which constitutes "a remarkable milestone in the Kabyle peaceful struggle on the path to our independence".

On his side, the spokesman for the Union for the Kabyle Republic (URK), Lyazid Abid, first welcomed "the commitment of Moroccan diplomacy to support just causes like that of the Kabyle people, belonging to one of the oldest civilizations in the Mediterranean basin", before inviting other countries to follow Morocco’s example.