This dyad belongs to the conflict Iran: Kurdistan
Summary of conflict Iran: Kurdistan
The conflict between KDPI (Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran) and the Iranian government began in 1946 and has been active during several periods up to 1996. The incompatibility concerned the status of the Iranian Kurdistan.
Since the KDPI was driven into exile in Iraq in the 1990s the conflict has been largely inactive. This began changing in early 2016, after the KDPI announced that it would restart its armed conflict against Iran. The conflict has since been active in 2016 and 2018.
Conflict Description
Former members of a Kurdish organization called Komaleh founded KDPI (Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran) in August 1945. The goal of KDPI was initially to create an autonomous Kurdistan in Iran but after the overthrow of the Shah in 1979, and the subsequent conflict with the new religious regime, a second goal was introduced: the replacement of the Tehran regime with a democratically elected one. This goal was however less important than the primary goal regarding territory, as evidenced by KDPIs proven willingness to negotiate with an undemocratic regime over autonomy in Kurdistan.
KDPI controlled the Iranian Kurdistan on three main occasions, during 1946 when the Republic of Mahabad was proclaimed, during the 1979 revolution when the KDPI held control over the greater part of Iranian Kurdistan, and in the beginning of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s when Iranian forces were distracted by battles in the south. In the first case, Reza Shah subsequently crushed the Kurdish republic and on the second occasion the newly instated clerical regime declared jihad on the Kurdish forces and, as in the third case, seized control of most of the territory. The result of the 1979 jihad was armed conflict up until 1989 when the conflict was inactive. The conflict did however resume in 1990 and has since been active in 1993 and 1996.
Threatened by its own Kurdish insurgency, Turkey was Irans most important partner in combating Kurdish opposition during the later part of the 1990s. Starting in 1993, Iran and Turkey, as well as Syria, reportedly cooperated in hindering the emergence of a Kurdish state in northern Iraq. Turkish efforts focused on fighting the general threat of a Kurdish state, especially vis-à-vis rebel groups based on its own territory (like the PKK). Though Turkey often cooperated with Iran, there was also a complicated relationship between them (and Syria), which at times might have led Turkey to support the KDPI, as some reports suggested it did between 1993 and 1995.
The first time KDPI negotiated with the clerical regime was during the later half of 1980 when self-governing arrangements were discussed. One reason why these talks did not bear fruit was because KDPI refused to support Iran during the Iran-Iraq war. After the end of the Iran-Iraq war, KDPI and government officials met from 28 December 1988 until 20 January 1989 to negotiate a solution to the conflict. On 12 July 1989, the parties again met for renewed negotiations. The outcome of the meeting was that one of the members of the Iranian representatives shot dead the KDPI representatives, including Abdul Rahman Qasimlu, the leader of KDPI. On 3 April 2000, the KDPI made public a communiqué regarding rumours on secret negotiations with the Iranian government, vehemently denying that the KDPI had engaged in secret negotiations and emphasizing that only official negotiations or other peaceful means could solve the Kurdish problem.
After a period of prolonged inactivity during its exile in northern Iraq, KDPI announced a renewal of the armed struggle in Iran on 25 February 2016. The group has since launched repeated attacks on Iranian security forces in the Kurdish majority areas in western Iran. Most attacks have been launched from bases across the border in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, often targeting Iranian border posts. Iran has responded with shelling on areas with a KDPI presence in Iraq. The conflict was active in 2016 and 2018.
The renewal of the armed conflict by KDPI was followed by a similar announcement from another Kurdish group, PJAK (Partî Jiyanî Azadî Kurdistan, the Free Life Party of Kurdistan), that they would also relaunch their armed struggle, with the conflict becoming active in 2018. PJAK emerged in 2004, but had been inactive since 2012. However, since PJAKs political ambition is to change the present regime in Iran and establish a democratic confederacy where ethnic groups have the right to self-governance, this group is part of the governmental conflict.
