Geography:
Iranian Kurdistan is the name of the area occupied by Kurds in Iran. It shares borders with Iraq and Turkey and includes the greater parts of West Azerbaijan Province, Kurdistan Province, Kermansham Province, and Ilam Province. Iranian Kurdistan is bordered by Iraq in the south, Syria in the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia in the northwest, and Turkmenistan in the northeast. The total area is approximately 113,655 sq. kilometers.

People:
The Kurds number about 30 million in all areas, in Iran they constitute approximately 7% of Iran’s overall population; around 5-6 million people. Most Kurds are Sunni Muslim, although in southern Iranian Kurdistan many Kurds are Shi’a Muslim. They speak Kurdish and have a long legacy of struggle for self-determination of Kurdistan. In 1946, the “Republic of Mahabad (Kurdistan)” was established and existed for 11 months until it was overrun by Iran. Since then, Kurdish aspirations for self-government have been systematically opposed by Iran.

History
The struggle history of the Kurdish nation is one of the longest and bloodiest history of the world’s oppressed people.

Early History

From the 10th century to 12th century AD, two Kurdish dynasties emerged in Iran. The Hasanwayid Dynasty ruled from 959-1015 and the Ayyarids ruled from 990-117. The later Ardalan state was established in the early 14th century controlling the territories of Karadagh, Khanaqin, Kirkuk, Kifri, and Hawraman. The Ardalan empire ruled until the Qajar Monarch Nassar-al-Din Shah in 1867 CE. In the 12th century, Sultan, Sanjar established a province of Kurdistan centered at Bahar.

The Safawid Period

The Safawid family hailed from Iranian Kurdistan before moving to Azerbaijan and finally settling at Ardabil in the 11th century. During their rule, the government tried to extend its control over Kurdish inhabited areas of western Iran. At this time there were a number of semi-independent Kurdish Emirates: Mukriyan, Ardalan, Shikak tribes of Lake Urmiye and northwest Iran. The Kurds resisted this policy and tried to keep self-rule. After a series of bloody conflict, the Kurds were defeated. As punishment for the rebellions, the Safawids implemented a program of forced relocation and deportation of the Kurds in the 15-16th century under the reign of the Safawid King Tahmasp I.

After the war of 1514 AD between the two Safawid and Ottoman empires in Chalderan, Kurdistan was practically partitioned between these two empires. Additionally, between 1534 and 1535, Tahmasp I started the systematic destruction of old Kurdish cities and the countryside, deporting the Kurds in the area to the Alborz mountains and Khorasan as well as to the heights of the Central Iranian Plateau. In the year 1639 with the signing of a treaty between King Abas Safawi and Soltan Morad Osmani, made the partition of Kurdistan with the Ottomans official.


The Early Twentieth-century Liberation Movements

The liberation struggle of Sheikh Obidolla Nahri (1880) was the birth of the Kurdish national struggle for an independent Kurdistan. The early years of the 20th century witnessed a burgeoning national liberation movement where numerous Kurdish political movements emerged across Kurdistan; Ismael Agha (also known as Simko) chief of the Shikak tribe, established his authority in the area west of Lake Urmia from 1918 to 1922. Jaafar Sultan of Hewraman region also took control of the region between Marivan and north of Halabja and remained independent until 1925. In 1922, Reza Khan (who later became the first Pahlavi monarch), took action against Kurdish leaders. Simko was forced to abandon his region in fall 1922, and spent eight years in hiding. When the Iranian government persuaded him to submit, he was ambushed and killed around Ushno (Oshnaviyeh) in 1930. After this, Reza Shah, shah and dictator of Iran, pursued a crude but effective policy against the Kurds. Hundreds of Kurdish chiefs were deported and forced into exile. Their lands were also confiscated by the government.

World War II

When the Second World War started, the struggle of the free-willing nations against reactionism and fascism advanced. Concurrently, a historical necessity was felt to establish a political organization in the Iranian part of Kurdistan, conditions to carry on the struggle forward were favourable. The Kurdish leaders took advantage of this historic opportunity and formed the Democratic Party of Kurdistan in August 16, 1945.

In 1946, a Kurdish state was created in the city of Mahabad by the Kurdish Movement Komeley Jiyanewey Kurd under the leadership of Qazi Muhammad. However, due to its small geographic size, most Iranian Kurds did not approve of the experiment. The Republic of Mahabad lasted less than a year. As soviet-occupying forces withdrew from the area, the Iranianl government was allowed to defeat the Kurds and return Kurdistan to Iran.

Iranian Kurds and the Islamic Revolution

Following the fall of the Pahlavi Dynasty in the winter of 1979, Ayatollah Khomenei, new religious leader of Iran declared a jihad (Holy War) on the Kurds. Kurds were later denied a seat in the new assembly responsible for drafting the new constitution. As a result, many Kurds were deprived of rights in the Iranian Constitution due to their Sunni religious status. that referendum institutionalized Shia primacy and made no provision for regional autonomy. As early as 1979 armed conflict broke out between armed Kurdish factions and the Iranian government's security forces. In the spring of 1980, government forces under the command of President Abolhassan Banisadr conquered most of the Kurdish cities through a huge military campaign, sending in mechanized military divisions to Kurdish cities including Mahabad, Sinne, Pawe, and Marivan


Organizations:
The organization represented in UNPO is the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) (http//:www.pdki.org/) which was founded in Iran in 1945. PDKI replaced the “Komalay Ziyanaway Kurd” (Council of Kurdish Resurrection) which had been formed three years earlier. PDKI has held thirteen congresses. The 1st congress was convened in 1945. During the 20th Congress of the Socialist International held in the US headquarters in New York (9-11 September 1996), PDKI was given the status of UN observer member. In 2005, PDKI’s membership was elevated to consultative status. The highest body of PDKI is its Central Committee, which is usually composed of 21 permanent and 10 substitute members. The Central Committee also elects about 7 of its members as the Political Bureau, which also includes the Secretary-General.

Statistics:
Area: 113,755 km2
Population: 5-6 million
Language: Kurdish