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UK KURDISH STUDENT
ORGANISATION
The UK Kurdish Student Organisation is proud to have
organised a public Parliamentary meeting on the 30th
of November to discuss the theme The Forgotten Kurds
of Iran: Mobilising International Solidarity. This
meeting aims to shed light on the situation facing
Kurds in Iran in the current political climate, with
respect to UK government policy towards the current
regime and its change of view on Iran where there
was once hope for dialogue. It also seeks to
consolidate support for their struggle within and
outside Kurdish communities in the UK, focussing on
the Kurdish Diaspora to gain support and gather
attention outside the Kurdish community. We welcome
a broad range of participants and approaches to
lobbying in the UK and consolidating support from
within and outside Iran. We invite all members of
the UK public in aim to draw up viable strategies
for how communities of activism outside Iran can
work in solidarity with Iranian activists,
particularly new, young and student movements, to
bring about social and political change.
We would be pleased to have you accept our
invitation to attend the meeting. Your presence and
contribution will be highly valuable in contributing
to discussion of the ways to engage political
movements in Iran with UK public and political life.
UK KURDISH STUDENT ORGANISATION
Date and Time: Wednesday, 30 November at 7pm
3 Bridge Avenue London W6 9JA
Tel:0208 748 7917 Fax: 0208 748 7917 Mob:07958 647
705
E-mail: ka61@kent.ac.uk
Public meeting -
Wednesday, 30 November at 7pm
The forgotten Kurds of
Iran: Mobilising International Solidarity
The campaign of the Kurds in Iran for their
political, social and cultural rights forms part of
the ongoing struggle of the Kurds in all four parts
of Kurdistan for a peaceful and democratic solution
to the Kurdish question which must be at the heart
of a just settlement for all the peoples of the
Middle East. Only justice and recognition of equal
human rights can bring about reconciliation. This
meeting aims to shed light on the situation facing
Kurds in Iran in the current political climate, with
respect to UK government policy towards the current
regime and its change of view on Iran what was once
hoped to have dialogue with. Also seek to
consolidate support for their struggle within and
outside Kurdish communities in the UK, focussing on
Kurdish of Diaspora to gain support and gather
attention outside the kurdish community the same
time to draw up viable strategies for how
communities of activism outside Iran can work in
solidarity with Kurdish activists, particularly new,
young and student movements in Kurdistan.
The meeting is hosted and chaired by Hywel
Williams, MP
Committee Room 8 House of Commons, Westminster, SW1
Speakers & Topics include: Dr Nazila Ghanea-Hercock
Senior Lecturer International Law, University of
London, Institute of Commonwealth Studies (policies
of the Iranian government regarding ethnic
minorities in Iran) Rosie Kane Scottish Parliament (MSP)
Hugo Charlton, International Human Right
lawyer-Green Party (international law), Dr Paul Todd
co-author of "Global Intelligence” PhD research on
Iran under Shah (UK policy in Iran), UK Amnesty
International (Human Rights in Iran),Pardeep Singh
Rai Panjab Britain All-Party Parliamentary
Group(Mobilising communities ,Solidarity) And Kameel
Ahmady Kurdish journalist/Student
activist(Mobilising the Student Movement/use of
Media)
The meeting is supported by UK Kurdish Student
Organisation
For information call
Tel 020 87487 917 & 0795 864 7705
Email: ka61@kent.ac.uk
Background Information:
In the last ten years the struggle of the Kurdish
people for self-determination has increasingly
attracted the attention of world opinion with the
struggles in Iraq and Turkey taking centre stage. In
contrast, the fight of the Kurds of Iran against the
Islamic fundamentalist regime has been underreported
and under-researched. Kurds of Iran have been vocal
in their support for the Iraqi Kurd’s struggle in
the post-Saddam Iraq. It should not be assumed
however that the Kurdish struggle inside Iran has
been merely a reaction to events in other parts of
Kurdistan. Iranian Kurds have a long tradition of
national struggle dating back to the 1880s. The ear
of Kurdish resistance in Iran since WWII, which gave
birth to the first and only Kurdish republic in
Mahabad which formed Kurdish Democratic Party of
Iran and lefties Komala, when KDPI leader Dr Qasimlu
attempted to enter into peace talks with Iran he was
murdered in 1989 by Iranian agents in Vienna - his
successor also murdered years latter. The Iranian
government actively continues to characterise by
centralising power and oppression of the Kurdish
identity and Kurdish struggle.
Today the Kurdish region suffers from multiple
oppressions, with the Kurdish culture still only
partially recognised. Kurds, belonging to the Sunni
minority, are subordinated to the Iranian Shiia
government, while economically the region of
Kurdistan suffers from underdevelopment and a
growing drug problem, now devastating a new
generation. These are just some of the challenges
that the Kurds in Iran continue to confront on a
daily basis.
In the Iranian election earlier this year,
Ahmadinejad was elected president of the country.
His extreme views towards world affairs such as
Israel’s presence in the Middle East and nuclear
programs, as well as his harsh approach to freedom
of speech in the news media and for example foreign
films have served to further marginalize the people
of Iran, and distracted from campaigns for
democratic change on the part of activists in Iran.
Since then, the government’s policy of ignoring
minority rights and the brutal acts of the security
forces have resulted in numerous public protests
that were marked by bloodshed. In almost all Kurdish
cities, a large number of people have been
imprisoned and tortured by the Iranian forces. The
Iranian state has implemented a de-facto martial law
in many parts of Iranian Kurdistan. Furthermore, the
state has extended its military presence in
Kurdistan since the protests started, and has
reportedly deployed over 100,000 troops backed by
helicopter gun ships to the region up to this day.
This month, Iran’s revolutionary court has sentenced
one of the detainees to death while a significant
number of women activists, journalists and human
right campaigners are awaiting trials.
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