Political party unveils bronze donkey statue

Five feet high and three feet wide, it took Kurdish sculptor Zerak Mira seven months to create. The statue was unveiled at a ceremony attended by a number of Kurdish artists and intellectuals. Donkeys' Party Secretary General Omar Kalol said he hopes the statue will encourage people in Kurdistan to better treat animals, especially donkeys.

Pic/AFP

"The statue of the donkey has more than one meaning," said Kalol."The donkey played a very distinguished role in the Kurdish armed liberation movement ... and it was the only friend of the Kurdish fighters in the mountains of Kurdistan during the struggle for Kurdish rights," he said, referring to decades-long guerrilla war in northern Iraq and Iran. The Donkeys' Party was founded and officially authorised in 2005.