Kurdish parliamentarian denied visa
The Australian embassy in Paris has refused a visa to the deputy speaker of the Kurdistan Parliament in exile to attend a conference at Deakin University in Melbourne. According to a December 1 statement by the Kurdistan Parliament, efforts to find out why produced "some bureaucratic gobbledegook" to the effect that his presence in Australia might prejudice Australia's relations with a foreign country.
Since its formation in April 1995, the parliament has met in Vienna, Moscow, Copenhagen, Rome and Oslo.