Washington Kurdish Institute
March 3, 2020
On February 26, the Washington Kurdish Institute (WKI) hosted a roundtable panel featuring the Representatives of the Iranian Kurdish parties in Washington. The panel also featured the release of a Primer on Rojhelat (Iranian Kurdistan).
Moderator: David Tafuri, Attorney specializing in international law and foreign relations
“Thank you to the Washington Kurdish Institute (WKI) for promoting this lunch series and many other interesting lunch series like this one. I am here to learn like many of you and I am really honored to be up here with the representatives of the Kurdish political parties in Iran. Obviously, Iran has been in the news a lot over the last year or two, especially since the beginning of January since the hostilities heated up between the US and Iran. Despite that, we still don’t hear a lot about the Kurdish population in Iran, the Kurdish community in Iran, and these Kurdish political parties which are an important part of the fabric of Iran, and will also be part of the ultimate solution to what happens next in Iran. I am excited to hear from our guests today about what is happening in their perspective, the Kurdish population in Iran with their political parties, and with the dialogue with the United States, and other Western actors concerned about the future of Iran.”
Arash Salih: Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDP-I)
Salih spoke about the daily situation of Iran’s Kurds and the economic issues affecting their society. Salih believes an average Iranian citizen is certain that the economic situation is at its worst since the establishment of the Islamic regime in 1979, exclaiming, “People do not have the same livelihood of even three years ago!” Salih went on to stress that the Iranians blame the regime for the corruption and the mismanagement of the nation’s wealth that created the dire situation they face.
On the blackout policies instituted by the regime during crises like the recent shootdown of a Ukrainian civilian airliner and the coronavirus, Salih said, “From the Ukrainian airplane issue to coronavirus, the Iranians have been dealing with crises. The cover up by the regime led the public trust to plummet and created a perspective that we have not seen in the past forty years.” Salih added, “Whatever happens in Iran, people question the authorities.”
On foreign policy, Salih noted that greater Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) meddling in the region has translated into increased dissatisfaction in Iran. “These concerns have been reflected in various demonstrations by slogans people chant demanding the government stop wasting their money and resources on radical terrorist groups in the Middle East,” said Salih.
According to Salih, the Iranian regime’s policies are responsible for the recent parliamentary elections held on February 21 having the lowest turnout since the founding of the Islamic Republic. Salih claimed, “The regime has announced 40 percent voter turnout, but we believe it is even a lower percentage than announced.”
Salih described Iran’s Kurdish region as being subjected to “an internal imperialism” imposed by the regime. He cited the Kurdish border porters known as “Kolbars” as an example of the regime’s policies toward the Kurds and explained how the Kolbars transfer goods semi-legally from Turkey and Iraq to Iran for low wages. Salih went on to say, “This occupation is a source of livelihood for thousands of Kurds. These Kolbars are getting shot on a daily basis by the IRGC and other forces, but they still continue to work because they will die either due to the economic situation or getting shot by the IRGC.”
On the Iranian Kurds’ political situation, Salih spoke about the “Cooperation Center of the Kurdistan Political Parties’’ that has been formed to unite the Kurdish parties in an effort to oppose the regime and plan for Iran’s political future. Salih stated, “The main Kurdish parties are members of this cooperation center. The center’s main purpose is to facilitate coordination on issues facing Iranian Kurdistan among these political parties. It’s kind of a strong base of the future.” Salih also noted that the center’s members enjoy the strongest support of the Kurdish population and claimed, “In 2017, 16 cities and towns in Iranian Kurdistan went on a general strike in support of their political parties.” Salih went on to praise the organization and the leverage of the Kurdish parties in saying, “No other organization in Iran or any political party is able to do such a thing. We are enjoying the strongest base, the largest constituency in Iran.”
Salah Bayaziddi: Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan
Bayaziddi began his remarks by stating, “We hear about Kurds in Iraq, Syria or Turkey, but we rarely hear about the Kurds of Iran.” He then reminded the attendees that the Kurdish flag, anthem, and Peshmerga name all originated in Iranian Kurdistan. Bayaziddi agreed with Salih on the low voter turnout seen during Iran’s recent elections and added that the problems afflicting the country and creating numerous crises trace their roots back to the Iranian regime’s foundation in 1979, saying, “41 year ago, during the Iranian revolution, the Kurds had a different idea and vision about Iran, but the revolution was hijacked by the current regime. The Kurds sought a secular, democratic Iran.” Bayaziddi then spoke about the Iranian regime’s animosity towards Iran’s Kurdish region and cited how it began when the Iranian Kurds rejected and boycotted the referendum that established the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979, which resulted in nearly 100,000 Iranian regime forces attacking Iranian Kurdistan in what became known as “the holy war’‘ against the Kurds. Bayaziddi described the following decades as rife with “bloody military campaigns and imposed economic burdens facing the Kurdish region.”
Bayaziddi divided more recent anti-regime protest into three eras, the first of which began in 2009 and pitted Iran’s “hardliners” against its so-called “moderates.” Bayaziddi criticized media descriptions of Iranian protests and claimed, “There are no ‘reformists’ in Iran.” He went on to explain how the 2009 protests were limited to Iran’s capital, Tehran. Bayaziddi designated the second era of Iranian protests as encompassing those which took place in 2017-2018 and contrasted them with the initial era in stating, “But the protests in 2017 and 2018 were widespread throughout the entire country. For the first time we saw the younger generation rising up.” Iran also witnessed massive, nation-wide protests last November, which were cited by Bayaziddi as the third era and resulted in the regime employing harsh countermeasures. Bayaziddi would go on to claim over 1500 people were killed in the November protests and acknowledge the significance of the participation of Iran’s urban and rural poor, also known as the Mostafazin, who had traditionally been the main base of support for the Islamic regime. Concurrently, Bayaziddi stressed the protests are increasingly coming back to the same points the Kurds advocated for 41 years ago and claimed many protesters were asking the regime, “Why should we go and die in Syria and Iraq?”
Bayaziddi reiterated that the Iranian regime is collapsing and blamed its dire circumstances on the diversion of billions of dollars received after the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) towards propping up the Assad regime in Syria, stating, “That money went to Syria and was spent on killing civilians. Also, that money resulted in making thousands of missiles, of which some were taken to Yemen.” On another note, the Iranian Kurds, according to Bayaziddi, enjoy cordial relations with the political entities of other Iranian minorities, including Baluchis, Arabs, and Azeris. These groups have communicated and coordinated through an organization tasked with maintaining such relationships known as the “Congress of Nationalities for a Federal Iran.”
Kamran Balnur: Kurdistan Democratic Party- Iran
Balnur began his remarks by pointing out the location of Iranian Kurdistan in northwestern Iran and acknowledging a sizable Kurdish population has resided in Iran’s northeastern Khorasan Province since their displacement two centuries ago. Balnur went on to say, “The population of Kurdistan is estimated to be about 15 percent which is not official. It’s somewhere from 15-20 percent. The population of Iran is about 82 million, so its Kurdish population is around 15 million.” Balnur also explained there are nearly one million Kurds living in Tehran, many of whom moved there to escape the poor economic situation in the Kurdish region. Balnur summed up Iranian Kurdistan’s economic difficulties in saying,“In addition to the sanctions on Iran, the regime imposes another sanction on the Kurdish region.” Balnur also accused the Iranian regime of displaying a lack of transparency in its failure to release economic statistics, claiming, “There is the disinformation policy in Iran. It was not easy to obtain economic statistics. Nobody knows what is happening in Iran. For example, there is 42 percent inflation of the currency in Iran. But who reported it? An outsider organization, since the regime won’t allow the statistics to be released.” Granted, Balnur admitted that, despite his contracts in Iran, obtaining facts and figures on any topic in Iran is impossible due to the regime’s lack of transparency and disinformation policy.
Balnur eventually cited a pro-government report on the Kurdish region’s economy that, despite its bias, showed the dire situation of the Kurds. “The poor living conditions in Kurdistan created many issues, including the plight of the Kolbars,” said Balnur. Balnur went on to describe how tens of Kolbars are killed in Iran every year and mentioned that 74 Kolbars were killed in 1996. In chronicling the life of a Kolbar, Balnur said, “The way the Kolbar works is a person carries 150 pounds of goods on his shoulders and walks through high mountains. It is unbelievable how they do it. They are trapped and killed by the regime, yet they do it. Why? Because there is no other job to do.” Balnur went on to note that the pro-government report admitted the unemployment rate in Iranian Kurdistan is five percent above the national average and concluded his remarks by stating, “The regime in Iran doesn’t care about the economy, the Kurds or Balochis or Azeris. The only thing they care about is the existence of themselves and remaining in power.”
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