Washington Kurdish Institute
July 31, 2019
“Kurdish Elite Congress” a forum was sponsored by the Iranian regime in Sanandaj, on July 2-3, 2019. The conference hosted some renowned Kurdish artists and figures from Iran. However, independent Kurdish scholars, journalists, and activists denounced the forum and described as ” Iranian chauvinist discourse .” Below is the statement against the Iranian regime-sponsored “Kurdish Elite Congress”.
Dear Kurdistanis,
It is obvious to everyone that a great historical injustice has been committed against the Kurdish nation. The Kurdish nation is largest nation in the world without a state of their own and their homeland has been divided and occupied. The occupiers, using systematic policies and strategies, have deprived the Kurds of their natural rights; their very existence and national identity have been neglected, and their right to national self-determination and the Kurdistan state have been denied.
As for the occupied Rojhelat, the Iranian rulers have tried to present the Kurds, unlike Turks and Arabs, as a ‘qovm’, or an ethnic subgroup comprising the Iranian nationality. The Kurdish culture has been introduced as a subculture and a part of the Iranian (read Farsi) culture. Also, under the guise of an epical and historical coexistence and multiculturalism, they have tried to keep Kurdistan as Fars’s colony. Furthermore, in order to ‘engineer’ a desired Kurdish identity, successive Iranian governments have not refrained from the policies of the Kurdish assimilation, torture, execution, systematized discrimination, and the assassination of the Kurdish political leaders; they applied all measures that can readily be considered as state terrorism.
In line with engineering a Kurdish Identity, the Iranian government held the Kurdish Elites Congress (www.kurdish-elites-congress.ir ) On July 2 and 3, 2019 with the participation of a part the community of the Kurdish artists in Sine (Sanandaj) city. The Congress was widely reflected in Rojhelat and Iranian public spheres and the media. The main idea of the Congress, as mentioned in the slogans, interviews and the speeches of the Iranian governmental officials, including the Iranian president, is that the Kurds are an Iranian ‘qovm’ and Iran is at the same time the birthplace of all the Kurds. This is the core of the Iranian chauvinist discourse to transform the Kurds from a nation to a ‘qovm’, from being culture to subculture, and from the goal of the Kurdish independence to the Kurdish assimilation into the Farsi culture. This serves two main purposes: first, it is an attempt to Iranianize and Farsify the Kurdish nation through the change and distortion of the nature of the Kurdish identity to misdirect the issues related to Kurdishness and Kurdistan. In fact, by degrading Kurdish national and political issues to a cultural one in total, Iranian nationalism tries to impose on the Kurds the fake and compulsory Iranian identity. This is while Rojhalat Kurds are a part of the great Kurdish nation in the divided Kurdistan. Second, the Iranian regime is in a critical situation and is pursuing a particular regional policy and using the Kurdish nation as a tool and a shield to save itself. As such, by using this Congress, the Iranian government which has never had legitimacy in Rojhelat and has once lost its legitimacy in Farsistan (Fars’s homeland) and is now facing international sanctions tries to revive and develop Iran’s cultural diplomacy.
Feeling responsible towards our nation, and emphasizing the Kurdistani identity of the Kurds, we consciously believe that the path to the happiness of Kurdistanis and the flourishing passes through an independent Kurdistan. Our nation must have its own national sovereignty. We also believe that neither us nor any other political or cultural groups, whether under the influence of the will of the occupiers in the form of a cultural Congress or as a part of the Kurdish people in a single political party, can fully identify as the Kurdish identity and represent the national interests of all the Kurdish people. Therefore, we believe that the basic, moral and democratic solution to this issue is to hold a referendum on the independence of Rojhelat under the observation of the United Nations so that the Kurdish people can decide freely about their fate and freedom.
Dr. Haci Akman- Ethnology, Bergen University
Bakir Ali, Sulaymaniyah, Writer
Sakar Aware- Duhok, Writer
Doç. Dr. Osman Aytar- Riha, Sociology
Ismail Besikci
Sinam Celadet Badirkhan
Teyfur Bathayi- Santanaj, Director & Researcher
Halo Barznji- Sulaymaniyah, Political Activist
Shwan Barznji- Sulaymaniyah, Political Activist
Hozan Brader, Artist
Eskere Boyik- Armenia, Writer
Miraze Cemal- Yerevan, Journalist & Poet
Mostafa Dadar- Mahabad, Artist
Kaniya Dapire- Chewlik
Shoayb Daneshpaju- Marivan, Researcher
Tahir Dinari- Nisebin, Poet
Sukri Demir- Mardin, Writer
Avin Abrishami- Mahabad, Political Activist
Pishko Amin- Kirkuk, Political Activist
Abdullah Amini- Mahabad, Political Activist
Bube Eser- Derika Chyaye Mazi, Writer & Politician
Hizirvan Abdullah Mohammad- Duhok, Journalist & Novelist
Roza Gergeri- Tbilisi, Psychologist
Nariman Goneyi- Sulaymaniyah, Political Activist
Seyda Goyan- Shirnakh, Researcher/Folklorist
Mihemed Hemkocer- Afrin, Writer & Poet
Murafov Hamlet- Yerevan, Journalist
Mokhtar Hooshmand- Marivan, Researcher
Zeynel Abidin Han- Warto, Writer
Hamid Hewrewi- Amed, Researcher
Hamarashid Haras- Sulaymaniyah, Theatrics & Writer
Dr. Mohammad Hosseinzadeh- Marivan, Researcher
Ismail Amin Hamalaw- Sulaymaniyah, Writer
Abubakr Hassan- Sulaymaniyah, Researcher
Kamil Zheer- Sulaymaniyah, Lawyer
Golala Kamangar- Kirmashan, Oslo University
Ramazan Kizil- Nisebin, head of DALKURD
Prof. Jan Ilhan Kizilhan- Batman, Psychologist
Nemat Kawsi- Saghez, Political Activist
Sirwan Kawsi- Saghez, Writer
Ramzi Karim- Shirnakh, Kurdish Language Teacher
Pari Kariminia- Saghez, Leeds Becket University
Veman Lineva- Duhok, Bergen University
Gohar Mamo- Yerevan, Poet
Viyan Mayi- Duhok, Director
Dr. Cewad Mela- Qamishlo, Politician
Hesene Mete- Amed, Writer
Shukriya Mahmudi (Kurdistani)- Urmiye, Claremont Graduate University
Newaf Miro- Weranshar, Writer
Meme Miksi- Van, Poet
Özz Nujen- Amed, Comedian & Theatrics
Armanc Nerweyi- Duhok, Journalist & Political Activist
Dr. Ekrem Önen- Derika Chyaye Mazi, Medya-Journalist
Fuat Önen- Derika Chyaye Mazi, Writer & Politician
Ikram Oguz- Arzirum, Writer
Mohammad Qorani- Saghez, Political Activist
Ayub Rahmani- Baneh, Political Activist
Erfan Rahnimoon- Marivan, Political Activist
Kone Resh- Qamishlo, Writer
Badraddin Saleh- Erbil, Writer
Sirvan Salehzadeh- Sardasht, Missouri State University
Said Sanandaji- Sanandaj, Human Rights Activist
Bella Sturki- Tbilisi, Journalist
Incel Selcuk- Sert, Kurdish Language Activist
Agiri Soran- Nisebin, Journalist
Hewdan Said- Duhok, Historian
Reza Shwan- Kirkuk, Political Activist
Sajjad ( Shaho) Shahmoradi- Bijar, Indiana University
Bakhtyar Shamayi- Sulaymaniyah, Political Activist
Qandil Sheykhbzini- Erbil, Researcher
Hejare Shamil- Red Kurdistan, Writer
Stivan Shamzini- Sulaymaniyah, Writer
Özzengin Seyhmus- Mardin, Writer
Hassan Shafi’i- Saghez, Political Activist
Jafar Tikantapa- Bukan, Political Activist
Amin Waysi- Kirmashan, Political Activist
Alan Pewand, Qamishlo, Researcher
Dr. Hossein Khaliqi- Sanandaj, Politican
Ebrahim Khalil Baran- Urfa, Political Activist
Kamal Gharib- Sulaymaniyah, Political Activist
Helim Yusiv- Amude, Writer
Sores Zirek- Kharpet, Politician