Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan
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Leader | Mustafa Hijri |
Founder | Qazi Muhammad |
Founded | August 16, 1945 in Republic of Mahabad |
Ideology |
Kurdish nationalism Secularism Social democracy Democratic socialism Social liberalism Progressivism Federalism |
Political position | Centre-left |
National affiliation | Congress of Nationalities for a Federal Iran |
International affiliation |
Socialist International Progressive Alliance UNPO |
Colors | white, yellow, light blue, dark blue, white, green and red |
Website | |
pdki |
The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (Kurdish: Hîzbî Dêmukratî Kurdistanî Êran ( HDKA ), PDKI), also known as the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), is a Kurdish political party in Iranian Kurdistan. The party aims for Kurdish national rights within a democratic federal republic of Iran.
Qazi Muhammad founded the PDKI in Mahabad, Iran, on 16 August 1945. On 22 January 1946, Qazi Muhammad declared a Kurdish Republic of Kurdistan, of which he formally became president. The Republic lasted less than a year: after the USSR retreated from the area, the Imperial Iranian army first reclaimed Iranian Azerbaijan, followed by Mahabad on 15 December 1946. After the fall of the Republic, many of the PDKI leaders were arrested and executed, effectively ending the party.
The PDKI cooperated with the Tudeh party and saw a short revival under the anti-Shah administration of Mohammad Mosaddegh (1951–53), but this ended after Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi took full control again in the 1953 Iranian coup d'état. In 1958, the PDKI was on the verge of unifying with the Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), but was then dismantled by the SAVAK secret police. The remains of the PDKI continued to support the KDP, but this changed as the Shah started aiding the KDP, which fought against the Iraqi regime that had overthrown the royal Hashemite dynasty. In return for the Shah's aid, the KDP decerased its support for the PDKI.
The PDKI reorganised itself, marginalising its pro-KDP leader Abd-Allah Ishaqi (also known as Ahmad Tawfiq), adding new communist and nationalist members, and forming the Revolutionary Committee to continue the struggle against the Iranian regime. The Committee began an unsuccessful revolution in March 1967, ending after 18 months.