Title: The Iron Age 'Zagros Graveyard' near Sanandaj (Iranian Kurdistan) An Iron Age graveyard, for the most part dating from the 8th - 7th century BC, was The so called Hittite Laws are among the most remarkable sources for history of.
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- Refworld | Party for Free Life in Kurdistan: The PKK's Iranian Wing Bides Its Time
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PJAK was founded in the mids as an independent student-led movement inside Iran. Moreover, the group's central platform is a call for "democratic self-administration," which is derived from Ocalan's principle of "democratic confederalism" — essentially a form of ethnic self-governance. The party also puts a strong emphasis on issues such as cultural rights, ecology and gender equality, and has a female co-chair; priorities like these have greatly helped its Syrian equivalent, the PKK-aligned Democratic Union Party PYD , gain significant international legitimacy in recent years.
The group likely has one or two thousand fighters, the majority of whom are in Syria and Iraq. As with other PKK branches, the group ostensibly seeks to work with all Iranians, but in practice its membership is almost exclusively Kurdish. PJAK's military arm conducted a sporadic low-level insurgent campaign in Iran from the early s to This killed dozens of Iranian security force members, mainly in hit-and-run operations in and around Kurdish-majority towns such as Urmia and Mariwan, close to the mountainous and porous border with Iraqi Kurdistan.
The group, however, declared a ceasefire in , in part because its operations were showing no sign of producing results. Ironically, this occurred shortly before the Arab Spring, which, particularly as a result of the collapse of the Syrian state, created new opportunities for the PKK and its constituent groups.
However, despite PJAK's increasing involvement in Syria, the group nonetheless abandoned its ceasefire with Iran in , largely in an attempt to capitalize on widespread outrage and protests over the death of a Kurdish women at the hands of the Iranian security forces in Mahabad in May. The government responded by executing imprisoned Kurdish activists, including prominent prisoner Behrouz Alkhani EKurd. Since then, PJAK attacks have continued sporadically.
The group has also sought to exploit anger at Iran's intervention against Iraqi Kurds. Likewise, it has tried to highlight the Iranian government's allegedly poor response to a series of earthquakes in Iranian Kurdistan, which PJAK's co-chair, Zilan Vejin, said was evidence of Iran not fulfilling its "humanitarian duties. For instance, ahead of the Iranian elections, KODAR called for a boycott of the presidential vote, rejecting both the conservatives and the reformists.
Refworld | Party for Free Life in Kurdistan: The PKK's Iranian Wing Bides Its Time
Strikingly, however, the group did not oppose Kurds voting in town and village elections in Kurdish majority regions, on the grounds that previously low Kurdish participation had led to power-hungry "Persians" winning such elections, and then enforcing central government demands in Kurdish areas. Meanwhile, however, the group has used its militant wing to present itself as defending Iranian Kurds from the regime, notably in response to Iranian Kurdish anger at the security forces' harsh treatment of the "Kolbar," Kurdish smugglers who carry low-value goods across the mountainous Iran-Iraq border.
For instance, when Iranian security forces killed two Kurdish "kolbari" on September 4, Iranian Kurds held largely spontaneous protests the same day in the cities of Baneh, Serdest and Mariwan — this event further illustrates the growing power of social media in the area. The following day, in response to the killings and in an attempt to capitalize on public anger, PJAK shot dead two Iranian troops near the border, in what they said was retaliation for the killings — the incident also shows the ability of the group's militants to strike rapidly when needed.
However, in September, in response to continued anger against Iran's treatment of the smugglers, PJAK publicly called on "Kurdish parliamentarians in Iran" to support the rights of these individuals.
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PJAK's response to the emotive kolbar issue shows how it seeks to use a combination of non-violent political pressure, including on Kurdish MPs in the Iranian parliament, and military force to win concessions for Iranian Kurds. It aims to enable itself to simultaneously position itself as the most vocal defender of Iranian Kurdish rights, and also as a relatively pragmatic political force that is even willing to somewhat recognize the Iranian parliament's legitimacy. This pragmatic approach likely reflects an assessment that waging a successful insurgency against Iran is all but impossible, and it is also intended to allow the group to win popular grassroots support that could facilitate a more extensive insurgency when conditions allow.
PJAK's current strategy combines a number of elements.
These include sustaining a low-level and persistent insurgency within Iran, with attacks linked to popular issues that allow the group to build grassroots support. At the same time, however, the group is to some extent willing to engage with Iran's political system, for instance attempting to pressure Kurdish MPs in the Iranian parliament and tactically encouraging greater Kurdish participation in local elections. This suggests that the group is pursuing a long-term strategy, one likely predicated on gradually preparing the ground for a future insurgency while waiting for a suitable opportunity, such as the weakening of the central government.
It is similar to the strategy of the PKK and YPG, which for decades avoided attempting an insurgency in Syria, but then moved swiftly and effectively to exploit the breakdown in governmental control there in On December 31, the group issued its only statement on the demonstrations to date, noting cautiously that these "have the potential to lead to great changes.
In his first term, Khatami appointed Abdollah Ramezanzadeh to be the first Kurdish governor of the Iranian province of Kurdistan. He also appointed several Sunni and Shia Kurds as his own or cabinet members' advisors. In his second term, Khatami had two Kurdish cabinet members; both of them were Shia. The increased presence of Kurdish representatives in the sixth parliament led to expectations that some of the voters' demands would be met.
After the first round, in which 18 Kurds were elected, one candidate said that he expected there would be more Kurdish instruction at the university in Sanandaj, and he called on the Khatami government to have more Kurdish officials. Subsequently, a member parliamentary faction representing the predominantly Kurdish provinces of Kurdistan and Kermanshah was formed.
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Mohammad Sadiq Kaboudvand was among the latter who started an independent human rights association to defend the rights of the Kurdish people. In February , Kurdish nationalists took to the streets in several cities such as Mahabad , Sanandaj and Urmia and staged mass protests against the government and in support of Abdullah Ocalan. This was viewed as "trans-nationalization" of the Kurdish movement. According to human rights groups, at least 20 people were killed.
Despite the fact that more than one million Sunnis live in Tehran , many of them Kurds, no Sunni mosque exists to serve their religious needs.
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For the next six weeks, riots and protests erupted in Kurdish towns and villages throughout Eastern Kurdistan such as Mahabad , Piranshahr. Qaderi's lawyer, announced that Qaderi's murderer was a member of the police who shot the victim illegally. He also added that the murderer and the one who ordered the act are under investigation and the judiciary system has been cooperative up to now.
Kurds have suffered a long history of discrimination in Iran. In a report released in , Amnesty International said that Kurds have been a particular target of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the Kurds' "social, political and cultural rights have been repressed, as have their economic aspirations.
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However, according to Amnesty International, those activists who do "link their human rights work — drawing attention to the government's failure to observe international human rights standards - to their Kurdish identity they risk further violations of their rights. At the beginning of the 21st century, a number of Kurdish activists, writers, and teachers have been arrested for their work and were sentenced to death. In November , Iran executed Ehsan Fattahian - the first of over a dozen political prisoners on death row - despite an international campaign calling for his release.
Fattahian never confessed to carrying arms and was not given a fair trial, nor was he permitted access to his lawyer, and the Komala - the illegal organization he was accused of associating with - claimed that he had left the group a long time ago. Fattahian attempted to appeal, and when he did so, he was sentenced to death for "enmity against God". Like Fattahian, Yasamani was tortured and authorities tried to force him to confess, but he refused.
He was also denied a fair trial.
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Without notifying the families or lawyers of the political prisoners, Iranian authorities ordered the execution of four more Kurdish political prisoners - Ali Heydarian, Farhad Vakili, Mehdi Eslamian, Shirin Alam Hooli, and Farzad Kamangar , a teacher who received a lot of attention internationally following his arrest - in Iran on May 9, The four political prisoners suffered severe torture at the hands of Iranian authorities and were also forced to confess their memberships in an illegal organization - namely PJAK.
None of the activists were given fair trials nor did they have access to their lawyers. Amnesty International described the executions as "a blatant attempt to intimidate members of the Kurdish minority. Despite repeated international calls demanding the release or retrial of these four political prisoners, all were executed without any prior notice or warning. Following the executions, Iranian authorities refused to return the bodies of those executed to their families. As of May , there were at least 16 other Kurdish political prisoners on death row. Not one case has been reported as having received a fair trial.
Feb 4, , Stuart Levey, U. Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence stated "With today's action, we are exposing PJAK's Free Life Party of Kurdistan terrorist ties to the PKK and supporting Turkey's efforts to protect its citizens from attack. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Kurdish inhabited area of Iran. Part of a series on: Kurdish history and Kurdish culture.
List of Kurds. History of the Kurds. Ancient history. Medieval history. Modern history. Main article: Battle of DimDim. Main article: Simko Shikak revolt. Main article: Republic of Mahabad. Main article: Kurdish rebellion in Iran. Retrieved 23 April Retrieved 22 April Archived from the original on Retrieved Encyclopaedia of Islam. London: I. Tauris, , p. November 4, Historical Dictionary of the Kurds. Scarecrow Press. Journal of International Affairs. Royal Institute of International Affairs.
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