Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan
Hîzbî Dêmokiratî Kurdistanî Êran |
|
---|---|
Secretary-General | Mustafa Hijri |
Founder | Qazi Muhammad |
Founded | August 16, 1945 |
Headquarters |
|
Membership (2008) | 1,200–1,800 |
Ideology | Historic: |
Political position |
Centre-left Left-wing (historic) |
National affiliation |
|
International affiliation |
Socialist International (Consultative member) Progressive Alliance Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization |
Slogan | “Democracy for Iran, Autonomy for Kurdistan” |
Party flag | |
Website | |
pdki |
|
Participant in Iran crisis of 1946, 1967 Kurdish revolt in Iran, 1979 Kurdish rebellion in Iran, Consolidation of the Iranian Revolution, Iran–Iraq War, KDPI insurgency (1989–96), 2016 West Iran clashes | |
Active |
|
---|---|
Leaders | Mustafa Barzani (1940s) |
Area of operations | Iraqi Kurdistan; Kurdistan and West Azerbaijan Provinces in Iran |
Strength |
|
Allies |
|
Opponents |
|
The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI; Kurdish: Hîzbî Dêmukratî Kurdistanî Êran, HDKA; Persian: حزب دموکرات کردستان ایران, translit. Ḥezb-e Demokrāt-e Kordestān-e Īrān), also known as the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), is a militant leftist ethnic party of Kurds in Iran, exiled in northern Iraq. It is banned in Iran and thus not able to operate openly.
It calls for self-determination of Kurdish people and has been described as seeking either separatism or autonomy within a federal system.
Since 1979, KDPI has waged a persistent yet thus far unsuccessful guerrilla war against the Government of Islamic Republic of Iran, during 1979–1983 Kurdish insurgency, its 1989–1996 insurgency and recent clashes in 2016. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officials have called the party a terrorist organization.
Hyeran Jo of Texas A&M University classifies KDPI as "compliant rebels", i.e. rebels that kill fewer than 100 and refrain from killing for more than half of their operating years. In order to gain domestic and international legitimacy, the party has denounced use of violence against civilians, claimed commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Geneva Convention Article 3, and as of 2007 is one of the signatories to the Geneva Call's ban on anti-personnel mines.