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Iran: Country faces agitated Kurdish
population
22.7.2005
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Unrest among Kurds
living in western Iran, which has been continuing
for several weeks, has prompted a government
investigation that began on 20 July. This comes on
the heels of low levels of Kurdish participation in
the June presidential election, which may be
indicative of their sense of exclusion from the
country's politics. The Kurds are not promoting
separatism, and the central government may find that
meeting their demands will be more effective than
arrests and violence in settling the unrest.
The most recent incident occurred when Kurds living
in Mahabad, West Azerbaijan Province, clashed with
police after a local activist was reported killed by
state security agents, Radio Farda reported on 12
July, quoting local journalist Masud Kurdpur.
Kurdpur told Radio Farda that "security agents"
killed activist Seyyed Kamal Seyyed Qader (known as
Shavaneh and identified elsewhere as Seyyed Kamal
Astam), whose death provoked clashes on 11 July
between police and Mahabad residents.
Kurdpur told Radio Farda that Qader was arrested for
unspecified political activities and the violent
police response to the subsequent protest shows that
the Iranian government is hardening its attitude to
protests. "Unfortunately, now that the elections are
over and [President Hojatoleslam Mohammad] Khatami's
government is coming to an end, this is a new type
of approach that has led to deaths," Kurdpur said.
"Most gatherings so far were tolerated."
Kurdishmedia.com reported on 15 July that Shavaneh
was a member of the Revolutionary Union of Kurdistan
(Yeketi Shorishgerani Kurdistan).
Kurdpur told Radio Farda on 14 July that local
Kurds' angry reaction to the killing of Shavaneh is
continuing. Kurdpur said that the authorities asked
storekeepers to reopen their businesses, but they
have yet to comply with this request. Kurdpur said
this is a particularly sensitive time because it
coincides with the anniversary of the assassination
of Kurdish leader Abdul Rahman Qassemlu (13 July
1989) by Iranian agents.
Kurdishmedia.com reported on 15 July that the unrest
was continuing and the authorities arrested two
people, Hussein Amanullah and Kamal Perwyiziyane (Parvizian),
in the city of Bukan. A total of about 15 arrests
were made. The authorities in Marivan reportedly
instructed local telephone call centers, from which
people make international calls, to provide them
with names of everyone who calls overseas.
Seyyed Maruf Samadi, the governor of Mahabad, said
the problems there began when the man known as
Shavaneh resisted police, "Iran" reported on 19
July. They therefore shot him. Samadi said people
who protested this incident were arrested, but he
has no information on them. A police officer was
stabbed to death, according to Samadi. Government
offices, banks, and some homes were damaged, too.
Samadi acknowledged that these incidents have upset
locals, and he said the Interior Ministry has agreed
to his request to send a team to look into these
events.
Regional Spillover
Federalism in Iraq has had an effect on Iran's
Kurdish population, particularly the election of
Masud Barzani as president of the Kurdistan Regional
Government and the election of Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan leader Jalal Talabani as Iraq's president.
The unrest in Mahabad is the latest in a string of
incidents focused on local Kurds' ethnic identity.
In mid-June, security forces in Mahabad clashed with
Kurds who were celebrating the election of Masud
Barzani. On 6 June, joyful young Kurds in Mahabad
and Piranshahr celebrated the election of Talabani
as Iraq's president by setting off fireworks and
displaying Kurdish flags. Fifteen police officers
were injured in resulting clashes, and 40
demonstrators were arrested. According to
unconfirmed reports from exile opposition groups,
demonstrations and clashes also occurred in Baneh,
Marivan, Saqez, and Sanandaj.
Kurds make up some 7 percent of Iran's population of
68 million, and have militated for greater attention
from the central government, citing provincial
underdevelopment, inadequate political
representation, and inattention to their cultural
needs. Before the June presidential election,
Kurdish political activists' demands prompted
threats from the Guardians Council. During the
campaign, reformist candidates paid particular
attention to the demands of Kurds and other
minorities.
Tehran University's Professor Hamid Ahmadi accused
the reformists of using ethnic issues as a campaign
device, "Siyasat-i Ruz" reported on 7 July. He
warned that doing this would not work.
Nevertheless, Kurds' dissatisfaction with and
alienation from the central government was apparent
in the Iranian presidential election. Second-round
turnout in the predominantly Kurdish cities of West
Azerbaijan was very low: Bukan (12 percent), Mahabad
(15 percent), Piranshahr (15 percent), and Sardasht
(16 percent). Turnout in Kurdistan Province was
quite low -- about 25 percent -- compared to the
national average of almost 60 percent. Turnout in
some municipalities was remarkably bad: Baneh (17
percent), Divandareh (20 percent), Sarvabad (17
percent), Saqez (16 percent), and Sanandaj (20
percent).
Iran is not the only country dealing with a restive
Kurdish population. Recent terrorist incidents in
Turkey have been attributed to offshoots of the
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK or Kongra-Gel), and the
Turkish military is active in the eastern parts of
the country. Turkey even proposed at a 19 July
meeting in Istanbul of foreign ministers from Iran,
Syria, and Iraq that they join forces against the
PKK. For the most part, the Kurds in Iran are not
promoting separatism. Tehran might well find that
meeting the Kurdish minority's demands -- which are
based on its constitutional rights -- will have
greater long-term success than repression.
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