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“Our vulnerability as Kurds
in Iran and the possibility of facing the same fate as was faced by
our people across the border was not lost on our elders. Kurds,
whether living in Iran, Iraq or elsewhere, live in fear. As members of
a minority, in some cases unrecognised and with little or no legal
protection, Kurds struggle for survival in a world that makes no room
for the weak and unprotected.”
Reza Jalali, Kurdish writer from Iran
Public meeting
Wednesday, 30 November
at 7pm
The forgotten Kurds
of Iran: Mobilising International Solidarity
The campaign of the
Kurds in Iran for their political, social and cultural rights forms
part of the ongoing struggle of the Kurds in all four parts of
Kurdistan for a peaceful and democratic solution to the Kurdish
question which must be at the heart of a just settlement for all the
peoples of the Middle East. Only justice and recognition of equal
human rights can bring about reconciliation. This meeting aims to shed
light on the situation facing Kurds in Iran in the current political
climate, with respect to UK government policy towards the current
regime and its change of view on Iran what was once hoped to have
dialogue with. Also seek to consolidate support for their struggle
within and outside Kurdish communities in the UK, focussing on Kurdish
of Diaspora to gain support and gather attention outside the kurdish
community the same time to draw up viable strategies for how
communities of activism outside Iran can work in solidarity with
Kurdish activists, particularly new, young and student movements in
Kurdistan.
The meeting is hosted
and chaired by Hywel Williams, MP
Committee Room 8 House
of Commons, Westminster, SW1
Speakers & Topics include:
Dr Nazila Ghanea-Hercock
Senior Lecturer International Law, University of
London, Institute of Commonwealth Studies (policies of the Iranian
government regarding ethnic minorities in Iran) Rosie Kane
Scottish Parliament (MSP) Hugo Charlton,
International Human Right lawyer-Green Party (international law),
Dr Paul Todd
co-author of "Global Intelligence” PhD research on
Iran under Shah (UK policy in Iran),
UK Amnesty International
(Human Rights in Iran),Pardeep Singh Rai
Panjab Britain All-Party Parliamentary Group(Mobilising
communities ,Solidarity) And Kameel
Ahmady
Kurdish journalist/Student activist(Mobilising the Student
Movement/use of Media)
The meeting is supported by
UK Kurdish Student Organisation
For information call
Tel 020 87487 917 & 0795 864
7705
Email: ka61@kent.ac.uk
Background Information:
In the last ten years
the struggle of the Kurdish people for self-determination has
increasingly attracted the attention of world opinion with the
struggles in Iraq and Turkey taking centre stage. In contrast, the
fight of the Kurds of Iran against the Islamic fundamentalist regime
has been underreported and under-researched. Kurds of Iran have been
vocal in their support for the Iraqi Kurd’s struggle in the
post-Saddam Iraq. It should not be assumed however that the Kurdish
struggle inside Iran has been merely a reaction to events in other
parts of Kurdistan. Iranian Kurds have a long tradition of national
struggle dating back to the 1880s. The ear of Kurdish resistance in
Iran since WWII, which gave birth to the first and only Kurdish
republic in Mahabad which formed Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran and
lefties Komala, when KDPI leader Dr Qasimlu attempted to enter into
peace talks with Iran he was murdered in 1989 by Iranian agents in
Vienna - his successor also murdered years latter. The Iranian
government actively continues to characterise by centralising power
and oppression of the Kurdish identity and Kurdish struggle.
.
Today the Kurdish region
suffers from multiple oppressions, with the Kurdish culture still only
partially recognised. Kurds, belonging to the Sunni minority, are
subordinated to the Iranian Shiia government, while economically the
region of Kurdistan suffers from underdevelopment and a growing drug
problem, now devastating a new generation. These are just some of the
challenges that the Kurds in Iran continue to confront on a daily
basis.
In the Iranian election
earlier this year, Ahmadinejad
was
elected president of the country. His extreme views towards world
affairs such as Israel’s presence in the Middle East and nuclear
programs, as well as his harsh approach to freedom of speech in the
news media and for example foreign films have served to further
marginalize the people of Iran, and distracted from campaigns for
democratic change on the part of activists in Iran. Since then, the
government’s policy of ignoring minority rights and the brutal acts of
the security forces have resulted in numerous public protests that
were marked by bloodshed. In almost all Kurdish cities, a large number
of people have been imprisoned and tortured by the Iranian forces. The
Iranian state has implemented a de-facto martial law in many parts of
Iranian Kurdistan. Furthermore, the state has extended its military
presence in Kurdistan since the protests started, and has reportedly
deployed over 100,000 troops backed by helicopter gun ships to the
region up to this day. This month, Iran’s revolutionary court has
sentenced one of the detainees to death while a significant number of
women activists, journalists and human right campaigners are awaiting
trials. |
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