Mustafa Hejri, General Secretary Assistant of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan
Nowadays, the Kurds constitute, at a regional as international level, the most important nation without a state, whose the country is divided betwenn several states of the region. All these states are tyrannic and totalitarist and do not answer to the Kurds’ democratic and legitime revendications but with violence and repression. Unfortunately, concerning that field, the history of our people is filled of tragedies, massacres and atrocities.
Considering the division of Kurdistan against the Kurdish people ‘s will, considering the oppression and barbarous acts of which the Kurds were and are still victims, and, at last, the right of people to self-determination (which independance is the ultime expression) recognized by the international community, we could, at the first glance, to talk about the instauration of a independant Kurdish state in each part of Kurdistan, or about the reunification of all the parts of Kurdistan, under the rule of one independent Kurdish state, like the unique solution to the problem. But a lot of important obstacles, internal, regional and international obstacles, prevent the Kurds to reach that.
Internal and regional obstacles :
At first, the states which under
the rule live the Kurds are today like yesterday absolutely far from democratic
criterions, from the respect of Human’s rights, people’s rights and
minorities’ rights. In these countries, every aspirations of opressed people
– including the Kurdish people – is bloodily repressed, with different
motives, especillay the pretext to fight the separatism. Since the creation of
the Islamic Reoublic, an other pretext is used to justify the repression which
the Kurdish people in Iran are victims. Imam Khomeiny himself, qualifying the
Kurds of Iran "Satan’s sons" and the leaders of the Kurdish movement
« God’s ennemies", declared on the 19 August 1979 the Jihad (Holy
War) against the Kurdish population in Iran. Then the new Iranian authorities
committed without hesitation cruel massacres, destructions of Kurdish villages,
terrorist actions against the leaders of our party and against these of other
forces of Iranian opposition.
Moreover, these states are opposited obstinately to every possibility to resolve the problem by dialogue and pacific way, and let to the Kurds no other ways but armed resistance for defending themselves. In that field, because of the military, economical and technical superiority, since a century, in spite of the bravoure and the heroic sacrifices of the Kurdish fighters, the government forces keep the upper hand.
There is an else obstacle, at an internal and regional level, against the Kurds : the tensions, the oppositions and the divisions between the Kurdish forces lead the more often to bloodily affrontements for a long time, that weaken seriously their movements of liberation. These affrontements, that are almost ever the result of treacheries and manipulations by the regional States, reach sometimes a such point, that the Kurdish forces forget their struggle against the states that dominate them, and waste their energy and alla their efforts to fight the adverse Kurdish movement. Sometimes, these wars between Kurds get them to lost great opportunities.
Secundo, the external obstacles
: the geopolitical situation of Kurdistan and the hot place it occupies in the
Middle-East (the Middle-East is itself one of the hoest region in the world) had
for consequence that the destiny of the Kurdish people was, in the past, to be
like a toy in the hands of the ex-Sovietic Union and the Western countries.
Today, considering only their trade interests, the Western countries play the
same game with the Kurds. And the Western policy with technical and military
materials they furnished to the states and causing a lot of destruction, take a
part, even undirectly , to the barbarous repression which the Kurdish
people are victims.
Nowadays, the Western countries, especially the United States, support the Irakian Kurds’ revendications, who, because of that support, ask federalism for replacing the autonomy accepted by the Irakian Constitution. Concerning the Kurdistan of Turkey, since the arrestation of Mr Öcalan, President of the Kurdistan Workers Party, the United States and the European countries seem to make pressure on Turkey for it resolves the Kurdish problem by pacific ways. But until now, in reality, nothing concrete had been done. Concerning the Kurdistan of Iran that, after the Kurdistan of Turkey shelters the greatest number of Kurds, the United States chose to keep silent : not even a word about the rights of ten millions of Kurds in that country ! The European states do not better : because of their economical rivalries in this country and by the enormous profits of the Iranian market, they keep silent too about the rights of the Kurds in Iran and close their eyes face to repression. May be one of the reasons of this silence about the Iranian Kurds is that we support a pacific resolution to the problem and refuse to commit some aventurous actions like terrorism, bombs and hijacking.
The best solution seems to be a resolution of the Kurdish problem in all the countries where the Kurds live, with federalism or autonomy. These ways of resolution are the best adapted solutions to a multinational country like Iran where live together several people, each of them with its own language and its own culture.
(...) Contrary to what pretend the governments dominating the Kurdish people, setting some such systems will not destroy the territorial integrity of these lands, but even lead to benevolent union and reinforcement of brotherhood between the people of these lands.
Considering all that factors, the P.D.K.I., that lead the Kurdish movement in Iran since the first day of its foundation, struggles for the achivement of the Kurdish people’s revendications in Iran, by a regional autonomy in a democratic Iranian state. Autonomy is a realistic and modest revendication. Moreover, autonomy has an historical and sentimental aspect for the Kurdish population inIran. 54 years ago, the Kurdish people in Iran succeed, under the presidence of the eminent Kurdish personnality, our regretted Qasi Mohammad, to found an autonomous republic on a part of its territory. Though this republic existed only for 11 months and that the Shah ‘s army put an end to that glorious period of our people ‘s history, and that its leaders, included the President of the Republic were executed, the memory of this republic and of its benefits reminds for ever in our people ‘s collective memory in the Kurdistan of Iran.
For reaching this objective, the P.D.K.I. chosed a political and pacific struggle. With the raising of the Islamic Republic, the P.D.K.I., in coordination with the else forces of opposition that were present in the Iranian Kurdistan, like the delegation of the Kurdish people, by its own initiative, tried many times to negotiate with the givernment delegation in Mahabad or with high representatives of regime, and Imam Khomeiny himself, in Teheran too, for finding a solution to the Kurdish question.
Unfortunately, pretexting to negotiate and abusing our good will, the Iranian regime had in fact just one objective : to save time for reorganizing its armies that were in a bad situation, and after attacking again the Kurdish population. For defendin the Kurdish civilians and our members and supporters, we were obliged to resist. We are still faithful to our principles and to our initial position that wishes to resolve the Kurdish problem by dialogue and with a pacific way. Our pacific efforts had had for result the murdering of the eminent Kurdish leader, regretted Dr. Abdul Rahman Ghassemlu, on the 13th July 1989 in Vienna, during negociations, by the terrorist diplomates of the Islamic regime of Iran. Two years later, his successor, Dr. Sadegh Charafkandi, had been murdered on the 17th September 1992 in Berlin by the terrorists of the regime, ordered by the highest Iranian state members.
In 1997, Mr. Khatami was elected to the presidence of the Islamic republic because of the massive support of the Iranian population. During his campaign, Mr. Khatami expressed general considerations about the Kurdish rights but three years had passed. He forget all his speeches about the Kurds and the other oppressed people in the country. He did nothing concrete, and he did not even dare to say one word about the subject. Although Khatami and his friends, so-called « reformators », have engaged a struggle against the Conservatives and instaure relative changes for the freedom pf press, concerning the revendications of the Kurdish population, they never hesitate to repress.
(...) When the Kurdish population made demonstrations in the towns of Iranian Kurdistan in February 1999 for protesting against the arrestation of Mr. Öcalan, with the agreement of Iranian authorities, many Kurds had been killed and some hundreds injured or arrested, because they dared too claim slogans for the revendications of the Kurdish people in the Kurdistan of Iran.
(...) An else slogan claiming recently by Mr. Khatami is : "Iran for all Iranians !". In a general meaning, this slogan could have a great political impact. But Mr. Khatami wants to achieve it in the frame of the present Constitution – and only in this frame. But Iran does not belong to all Iranians, and not even to all shiite Iranians. Iran belongs only to shiites who approve the dogma of the Realm of Dogma, I mean the pre-eminence of the Supreme Leader (Velayat-e-Faghih).
How a Constitution, that is ujst a compil of contradictions, discriminations, shares of people in first and second class citizens could make possible the belonging of Iran to all Iranians? Where is the place for laic, that are important in the Iranian society, especially among intellectuals ? What is the solution for associating these Iranians to the administration of the country ? Mr. Khatami stays unfortunately mute about all these questions and until now, does not bring any solution.
(...) Moreover, Mr. Khatami and his friends did never take clearly position about fundamental rights and freedoms, like the freedom to dress, flagellation, talion’s law, etc. We think that to that problem as to the problem of nationalities, reformators should state clearly.
