KDPI–Komala conflict

Last updated
KDPI–Komala conflict
Part of Kurdish separatism in Iran
and the Iran–Iraq War
Date1984−1991 [1]
Location
Result

Stalemate

  • Effectiveness of both KDPI and Komala [2]
  • Unilateral ceasefire declared by Komala [2]
Territorial
changes
Iran retained territorial control
Belligerents
Flag of Partiya Demokrat a Kurdistana Irane.png KDPI Flag of Komala.png Komala Flag of Iran.svg  Iran
Units involved
3,000 - 5,000 2,500 - 3,000 Unknown
Casualties and losses
150 - 160 170 - 230 Unknown

The conflict between the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI) and the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan began when the latter refused to stop calling the former a "class enemy" and the tensions started to grow. Komala continued making anti-KDPI propaganda, and subsequently KDPI declared war on Komala. [3] Both Kurdish organizations ended up simultaneously fighting against Iranian forces separately. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patriotic Union of Kurdistan</span> Political party in Kurdistan

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan is a political party active in Kurdistan Region and the disputed territories in Iraq. The PUK describes its goals as self-determination, human rights, democracy and peace for the Kurdish people of Kurdistan and Iraq. The PUK is currently under the leadership of Bafel Talabani. The PUK was founded in 1975 by Jalal Talabani, Nawshirwan Mustafa, Fuad Masum, Adel Murad, Ali Askari and Abdul Razaq Feyli. All presidents of Iraq under the 2005 constitution have been from this party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan</span> Political party in Iran

The Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan, commonly shortened to Komalah, is a social-democratic ethnic party of Kurds in Iran. Formerly with Marxist-Leninist and communist ties, the Komalah is a well established party with a history of more than five decades. The Komala party's headquarters are presently in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. They have an armed wing that has a history of leading the Kurdish resistance. The Komalah was advocated for anti-imperialism and Kurdish self-determination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Communist Party of Iran</span> Communist political party in Iran

The Communist Party of Iran is an Iranian communist party founded on 2 September 1983. It has an armed wing and its membership is predominantly Kurdish. The CPI is active throughout the industrialized areas of Iran.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organization of Iranian Kurdistan Struggle</span> Political party in Iran

The Khabat Organization of Iranian Kurdistan, usually called Khabat, is an armed ethnic party of Kurds in Iran, currently exiled in northern Iraq. The group currently does cross-border attacks against Iranian forces.

The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, also known as the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), is an armed leftist ethnic party of Kurds in Iran, exiled in northern Iraq. It is banned in Iran and thus not able to operate openly. The group calls for self-determination of Kurdish people, and has been described as seeking either separatism or autonomy within a federal system.

Kurds in Iran constitute a large minority in the country with a population of around 9 and 10 million people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Left-wing guerrilla groups of Iran</span>

Several left-wing guerrilla groups attempting to overthrow the pro-Western regime of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi were notable and active in Iran from 1971 to 1979. The groups shared a commitment to armed struggle, but differed in ideology. Most were Marxist in orientation. The largest group — People's Mujahedin of Iran — was founded as a left wing movement with the aim to overthrow Iran's cleric rule.

The Kurdistan Democratic Party was an ethnic party of Kurds in Iran, which split from Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI) in 2006 after a dispute over choosing its next leader in the latter's 13th convention. The KDPI and Iran’s Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP-Iran) have been engaged in several rounds of reunification talks over the years. On August 21, 2022, the two parties announced that they would finally reunite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Republic of Mahabad</span> 1946 unrecognised Kurdish state in Iran

The Republic of Mahabad, also referred to as the Republic of Kurdistan, was a short-lived Kurdish self-governing unrecognized state in present-day Iran, from 22 January to 15 December 1946. The Republic of Mahabad, a puppet state of the Soviet Union, arose alongside the Azerbaijan People's Government, a similarly short-lived unrecognized Soviet puppet state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kurdish separatism in Iran</span> Separatist dispute

Kurdish separatism in Iran or the Kurdish–Iranian conflict is an ongoing, long-running, separatist dispute between the Kurdish opposition in Western Iran and the governments of Iran, lasting since the emergence of Reza Shah Pahlavi in 1918.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1979 Kurdish rebellion in Iran</span> Kurdish rebellion in Iran

The 1979 Kurdish rebellion in Iran was one of the largest nationwide uprisings in the country against the new state following the Iranian Revolution. The Kurdish rebellion began in mid-March, just two months after the Revolution ended, and was one of the most intense Kurdish rebellions in modern Iran.

The insurgency by the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran surged in 1989, lasting until 1996, as part of the Kurdish separatism struggle. The eruption of the conflict in July 1989 was caused by the assassination of KDPI leader Abdul Rahman Qassemlou by suspected Iranian government agents. The most violent episodes took place in 1990 and 1991, when Kurdish soldiers launched massive attacks on Iranian military bases in Kurdish areas of Iran. This brought heavy retaliation from the Iranian government, aiming to eradicate the KDPI leadership by assassinating Sadegh Sharafkandi and other KDPI leaders in 1992 in order to disable the Kurdish party's ability to function. The conflict faded with the effective targeted assassination policy of Iran and by 1996 KDPI was no longer able to function militarily and announced a unilateral ceasefire. The conflict claimed hundreds of lives, mostly Iranian government troops and Kurdish militants.

The 1967 Kurdish revolt in Iran erupted in March 1967, as part of the long-running Iranian-Kurdish conflict. Abrahamian describes the revolt as a Marxist insurgency with the aim of establishing autonomy for Kurds in Iran, modeled as a federal republic. The revolt, consolidating several tribal uprisings which had begun in 1966, was inspired by the First Iraqi–Kurdish War in neighboring Iraq and enjoyed the support of the recovering Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran, previously crushed during the 1946 Iran crisis. The 1967 revolt, coordinated into a semi-organized campaign in the Mahabad-Urumiya region by the revived KDPI party, was entirely subdued by the central Iranian government.

2016–present clashes in West Iran refers to the ongoing military clashes between Kurdish insurgent party Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, which began in April 2016. Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) and Komalah expressed their support to the Kurdish cause of PDKI as well, with both clashing with Iranian security forces in 2016 and 2017 respectively. In parallel, a leftist Iranian Kurdish rebel group PJAK resumed military activities against Iran in 2016, following a long period of stalemate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Komalah (CPI)</span> Kurdish branch of the Communist Party of Iran

The Komala Kurdistan's Organization of the Communist Party of Iran is an Iranian Kurdish communist party active throughout the Iran–Iraq border. The party is led by Ibrahim Alizade and works as the Kurdish branch of Communist Party of Iran.

Iranian Kurdistan or Eastern Kurdistan is an unofficial name for the parts of northwestern Iran with either a majority or sizable population of Kurds. Geographically, it includes the West Azerbaijan Province, Kurdistan Province, Kermanshah Province, Ilam Province and parts of Hamadan Province and Lorestan Province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Komala of the Toilers of Kurdistan</span> Kurdish organisation

The Organization of the Toilers of Kurdistan, also known as the Komala – Reform Faction, was an armed communist and separatist ethnic party of Kurds in Iran based in northern Iraq.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan – Reunification Faction</span> Political party in Iran

The Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan – Reunification Faction simply known as the Komala – Reunification Faction, was an armed communist and separatist ethnic party of Kurds in Iran, currently exiled in northern Iraq.

Abdullah Mohtadi is the leader and secretary general of Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salvation Force</span> Kurdish Sufi militant group

The Salvation Force was a Naqshbandi Sufi Islamist militant group composed of Kurds, active in the Avroman region of Iranian Kurdistan during the 1979–1983 Kurdistan conflict and Iran-Iraq war. Like other Kurdish separatist groups in Iran, they aligned with and were armed by the Iraqi side. For the period of its existence, it was led by its founder Sheikh Muhammad Uthman Siraj al-Din Naqshbandi, of the prominent Sheikhs of Tawilah family.

References

  1. Hussein Tahiri (2007). The Structure of Kurdish Society and the Struggle for a Kurdish State. Bibliotheca Iranica: Kurdish studies series. Vol. 8. Mazda Publications. p. 144. ISBN   9781568591933. Between 1984 and 1991, the KDPI and Komala fought each other vigorously.
  2. 1 2 Entessar, Nader (2010). Kurdish Politics in the Middle East. Lanham: Lexington Books. p. 52. ISBN   9780739140390. OCLC   430736528.
  3. Martin Van Bruinessen (Winter 2016), "Major Kurdish Organizations in Iran", Middle East Research and Information Project, no. 141
  4. Emel Elif Tugdar and Serhun Al, ed. (2017). Comparative Kurdish Politics in the Middle East: Actors, Ideas, and Interests. Springer. p. 214. ISBN   9783319537153.