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Seven Iranian security forces killed in
Kurdish rebel clash
6.9.2007
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September 6, 2007
TEHRAN, -- Seven members of the Iranian
security forces were killed Wednesday in a shootout
with "rebels" in a western province bordering Iraqi
Kurdistan region (northern Iraq), Iran's state
television reported.
"Seven policemen were killed in a clash with rebels
in Kermanshah province this morning," the television
reported. "Two rebels were wounded," it added,
without giving further details.
Kermanshah, which has a large Iranian Kurdish
population, lies south of the province of Kurdistan,
where clashes with separatist guerrillas
occasionally take place.
The television report did not give any further
explanation about the identity of the rebels
involved in the clash, which took place in a
province which has a population of Iran's minority
Kurds.
Iran's border area with Turkey and Iraqi-Kurdistan
is hugely sensitive and security forces are
frequently involved in clashes with Kurdish
separatist militants, in particular PEJAK, a group
believed to be linked to Turkey's outlawed Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK).
PEJAK (Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan) , took up
arms for self-rule in the country's mainly Kurdistan
province northwestern of Iran. Half the members of
PEJAK are women.
In August, Rahman Haj-Ahmadi,
president of the three-year-old PEJAK, who lives in
Germany, said that the Iranian regime faced a
growing internal challenge to its power from the
Kurds, Azeris and other restive minority groups. he
said,
"We obviously cannot topple the government with the
ammunition and the weapons we have now," he said.
"Any financial or military help that would speed the
path to a true Iranian democracy, we would very much
welcome, particularly from the United States." |
PEJAK Kurdish woman fighter, (PEJAK - Party for a
Free Life in Kurdistan), PEJAK fights against the
Iran regime for self-rule in the country's
mainly Kurdistan province northwestern of Iran AP |
Iran has also repeatedly accused the United States
of seeking to stir up ethnic trouble in the area and
other border regions.
Iraqi officials accused Iran last month of shelling
Kurdish villages in Iraq's northeast, a move Iraqi
Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said threatened
ties with Iran.
Iran is bound by a treaty with Turkey to fight the
PKK. In return, Turkey has pledged to fight Iran's
main armed opposition group, the Iraq-based People's
Mujahedeen.
Turkey has praised Iran's efforts to crack down on
Kurdish rebels linked to the PKK, who have been
waging a deadly armed struggle for self-rule in the
mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey since 1984.
Turkey is home to over 25 million ethnic Kurds.
Iran has however vehemently denied claims by
officials in Kurdistan (northern Iraq) that it was
shelling separatist guerrilla bases in Iraqi
Kurdistan.
AFP | Reuters
Iranian Kurdistan
**
Iranian Kurdistan (Kurdish: Kurdistana Īranź or
Kurdistana Rojhilat (Eastern Kurdistan) or Rojhilatź
Kurdistan (East of Kurdistan)) is an unofficial name
for the parts of Iran inhabited by Kurds and has
borders with Iraq and Turkey. It includes the
greater parts of West Azerbaijan province, Kurdistan
Province, Kermanshah Province, and Ilam Province.
Kurds form the majority of the population of this
region with an estimated population of 4 million.
The region is the eastern part of the greater
cultural-geographical area called Kurdistan.
More about Iranian Kurdistan
The present leader of the organisation is Haji
Ahmadi. According to the Washington Times, half the
members of PEJAK are women, many of them still in
their teens, and one of the female members of the
leadership council is Gulistan Dugan, a psychology
graduate from the University of Tehran. This is due
primarily to the fact that PJAK is strongly
supportive of women's rights. PJAK believes that
women must have a strong role in government and must
be on an equal level with men in leadership
positions.
More about PEJAK- Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan
KDPI
The Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran in Kurdish
(Hīzbī Dźmokiratī Kurdistanī Źran) is a Kurdish
opposition group in Iranian Kurdistan which seeks
the attainment of Kurdish national rights within a
democratic federal republic of Iran.
The current
General Secretary of the Democratic Party of Iranian
Kurdistan is Mustafa Hijri
More about KDPI- Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran
** The use of the term "Kurdistan" is vigorously
rejected due to its alleged political implications
by the Republic of Turkey, which does not recognize
the existence of a "Turkish Kurdistan" Southeast
Turkey.
Others estimate over 40 million Kurds live in
Big Kurdistan (Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Armenia),
which covers an area as big as France, about half of
all Kurds which estimate to 20 million live in
Turkey.
Kurds are not recognized as an official minority in
Turkey and are denied rights granted to other
minority groups. Under EU pressure, Turkey recently
granted Kurds limited rights for broadcasts and
education in the Kurdish language, but critics say
the measures do not go far enough.
Turkey is home to over 25 million ethnic Kurds, some
of whom openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK for a
Kurdish homeland in the country's mainly Kurdish
southeast of Turkey.
Before August 2002, the Turkish government placed
severe restrictions on the use of Kurdish language,
prohibiting the language in education and broadcast
media.
The Kurdish alphabet is still not recognized
in Turkey, and use of the Kurdish letters X, W, Q
which do not exist in the Turkish
alphabet has led to judicial persecution in 2000 and
2003
The Kurdish flag flown officially in Iraqi Kurdistan
but unofficially flown by Kurds in Armenia. The flag
is banned in Iran, Syria, and Turkey where flying it
is a criminal offence"
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan ( Kurdistan-Turkey)
wikipedia
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