Military


Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI)

Geography, politics and history have conspired to render 30 million Kurds the largest stateless people in the Middle East. The Kurds in Iran are believed to number approximately five million. Their situation in Iran is said to be far from stable, with the area in Northwestern Iran that they inhabit being under Iranian government control (living conditions are described as primitive, at best). Since April 1993, Iranian government forces have reportedly launched aerial attacks against Iranian Kurds, even those operating inside Iraqi territory, while Iraqi forces made armed incursions into the "protected zone" inside Iraq above the 36th parallel.

The Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) was founded after World War II, as a splinter of an Association for the Resurrection of Kurdistan, the party was practically liquidated when a Kurdish rebellion was crushed in 1966-67. It was reinstituted after 1973, when Dr. Abd ar-Rahman Qasemlu was elected the party's Secretary-General. As of 17 September 1992, the party was led by its Secretary-General, Moustapha Hedjri. The KDPI was the largest and best organized of the Kurdish opposition groups, and sought autonomy for the Kurds in Iran. It operated from its bases in Iraq against the Islamic regime. In the early 1980s a measure of autonomy in the Kurdish areas of western Iran were achieved following clashes between KDPI guerrillas and Revolutionary Guards, resulting in the latter's withdrawal from Mahabad, Sanandaj and Kamyaran, until a renewed government offensive, which allegedly left 1,000 Kurds and 500 government troops dead. In the 1990s armed clashes continued between KDPI and government forces, including bombing attacks against Iranian Kurds, both in western Iran and inside Iraqi territory.

Attempts made outside the country by the KDPI to negotiate a settlement on Kurdish autonomy with the Government of Iran resulted in the assassination of the KDPI's previous leadership. On 18 September 1992, the Iranian Kurdish leader, Sadik Sharafkindi and three others were assassinated in a restaurant in Berlin, where Mr. Sharafkindi had gone to hold secret autonomy talks with Iranian government representatives. A previous attempt in 1989 also ended with the assassination of then-KDPI leader Abdul Rahman Qassemlou in Vienna.

The KDPI has long been subject to attacks by the Iranian regime. In 1992, an Iranian and four Lebanese were accused of killing Iranian Kurdish dissidents, one of which was then Secretary-General of the KDPI. On 28 July 1996, Iranian forces fired shells at the KDPI's base and at an Iranian Kurdish refugees camp. Tehran conducted at least 13 assassinations in 1997, the majority of which targetted members of the KDPI. These are just a few of many reported attacks to have taken place against the KDPI through 2006.

Since 1994 there had been reports of internal problems existing within the KDPI that weakened their political strength. These problems culminated in the separation of the minority wing of Mala Abdualla Hasanzada from the majority wing of Moustapha Hedjri in December 2006. Reports suggested that such a split would either assist in leading the KDPI out of its political stagnation or cause further disfunction. The split appeared to stem from personal, rather than ideological differences, between the two groups.


 

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