The Kurds in Iran
The Past, Present and Future
Kerim Yildiz
Tanyel B. Taysi
Pluto Press
The Kurds, between 24 and 30 million strong, are the world’s largest stateless nation. Spread mainly over four nation states spanning Asia Minor and the Middle East, including the Caucasus, the range of land known as greater Kurdistan has no fixed territory, and its exact dimensions, which have fluctuated with history as well the motivations of various groups, states and individual actors, are open to contention.1 The Kurds represent a distinct nation of peoples, sharing a common culture and language. Although there exists no monolithic Kurdish identity, and Kurdish language varies from region to region, the people that call themselves Kurds share a culture distinct from that of their surrounding neighbours.2
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Contents
Acknowledgements / ix
1 The Kurds in Iran: An Overview / 1
Introduction / 1
The Kurds of Iran / 3
2 A History / 11
Post-First World War / 11
The Mahabad Republic / 13
Mossadegh / 19
The Revolution / 21
The Iran–Iraq War / 27
3 Iranian State Policy and the Kurds: Politics and Human Rights / 31
Overview of state policy / 31
History of the Iranian state’s treatment of Kurds / 33
The power structure of the Islamic Republic / 46
Human rights and minorities / 49
Human rights and women / 51
Kurdish women / 54
The current human rights situation in Kurdistan / 57
4 Kurdish Cross-Border Cooperation / 61
A complex situation / 61
History of confl ict and cooperation / 62
The current state of nascent accord / 67
5 Iranian Kurds and Regional Geo-politics / 69
The Kurdish issue / 69
Iran and Turkey / 70
Iran and Iraq / 76
An Iran–Iraq Rapprochement? / 79
Implications for regional and international relations / 82
6 Iran’s Relations with the West / 87
The Iranian outlook / 87
Implications of the election of Ahmadinejad / 88
Iran and the United States / 92
Iran and the European Union / 98
Iran and the United Nations / 101
Islamic values and human rights / 103
7 Possibilities for the Future / 107
Renaissance of political and social thought / 107
The Iranian Kurdish national movement / 109
Government response and responsibility / 113
Implications of changes in regional geopolitics / 115
Conclusions /116
Notes / 119
Index / 129
Acknowledgements
This book was written by Kerim Yildiz, who would like to thank Rachel Bernu for her invaluable editing assistance and also Anna Irvin.
There are a small number of experts on the Iranian Kurds, and this book owes much in particular to the work of Nader Entessar, Farideh Koohi-Kamali, A.R. Ghassemlou, James Ciment and Nazila Ghanea-Hercock.
1
The Kurds in Iran: An Overview
INTRODUCTION
The Kurds, between 24 and 30 million strong, are the world’s largest stateless nation. Spread mainly over four nation states spanning Asia Minor and the Middle East, including the Caucasus, the range of land known as greater Kurdistan has no fixed territory, and its exact dimensions, which have fluctuated with history as well the motivations of various groups, states and individual actors, are open to contention.1 The Kurds represent a distinct nation of peoples, sharing a common culture and language. Although there exists no monolithic Kurdish identity, and Kurdish language varies from region to region, the people that call themselves Kurds share a culture distinct from that of their surrounding neighbours.2
Given current geopolitical realities resulting from the invasion of Iraq by US-led coalition forces as well as Turkey’s bid for EU entry, the world’s eye has recently been turned towards the Kurds that live in these states, and much has been written on the subject as of late, both academic and journalistic. This is a welcome change, as the situation of the Kurds has, for the most part, been under-investigated by most of the international community. However, what of the Kurds outside these nation states? Turkey and Iraq are but two of the states with a Kurdish population, and the geopolitical changes resonating through the region necessarily have an impact on the Kurds residing in neighbouring states, especially Iran. As Iran’s power and position in the region increases due to the overthrow of the Ba’athist regime in neighbouring Iraq, the ongoing nuclear crisis and the situation …
Kerim Yildiz
Tanyel B. Taysi
The Kurds in Iran
The Past, Present and Future
Pluto Press
Pluto Press
The Kurds in Iran
The Past, Present and Future
Kerim Yildiz
Tanyel B. Taysi
London - Ann Arbor, Mi
in association with
Kurdish Human Rights Project
First published 2007 by Pluto Press
345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA
and 839 Greene Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48106
www.plutobooks.com
Copyright © Kerim Yildiz 2007
The right of Kerim Yildiz to be identified as the author of this work has
been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright Designs and
Patents Act 1988
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data applied for
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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ISBN-13 978 0 7453 2669 6
ISBN-10 0 7453 2669 2
