Current Events

About what this site allows:

"I have to test the waters to see if this site would allow anti shahi and israelis have a voice as well."

There are plenty of anti-Shahi and anti-Israeli comments on this site.............and what's more this site also allows anti-IR comments too, though I don't know if that would interest you.

Good try! I am not Boos Boos!

VPK, we had many conversations before I was reported by Simorgh for being anti his favorite country. I have been out probably about 8-10 months already. Last time when icame back i revealed who I was and that didn't help. I try to keep it a little longer before I tell you. I have to test the waters to see if this site would allow anti shahi and israelis have a voice as well.

I have lived in Kordestan and served in the army there and i know the kords much more than you, especially I even have kordish blood as well, but I am tehrani.

RG

Alright I know where you stand. It is not that different from me. But it makes no difference since we are not setting policy regarding Kurds. I trust you have the best of intentions but I don't trust the West intentions one bit.

VPK: I am sorry, but I hate repeating myself.

But I do, just for you. So please read this comment.

No, the main kurdish parties Koomele and Democrat parties are not demanding separation from Iran. In fact Koomele is the kurdish wing of CPI (communist party of Iran). Please check out the links provided by zendanian, in this blog.

1) PKK is operating in Turky not Iran.

2) PJAK is very small comparatively(only 3000 armed guerrilas). They are not demanding separation either. PJAK has been criticized by other Kurdish parties who very correctly see the current struggle against the regime on a political front, organising mass strikes and civil disobedience to regime. The best example of which was the very successful general strike in kurdestan following the execution of kurdish teacher, Kamangar and his comrades.

The solution to Iran's ethnic debates (Kurd, Azari, Baloch, arabs in Khozestan) is a political and not military one. Military attacks on Kurdestan has always been islamist regime's policy. Military attacks only strengthen the arguments of separatists. So islamist regime is in effect helping the separatist sentiments all over Iran. The political solution to ethnic debates in Iran can only be achieved once the islamist egime is overthrown and a secular democratic republic, respecting the rights of all Iranians irrespective of their ethnicity, religion, political belief and gender is established.

I hope I answered your question.. 

"Personal business must yield to collective interest."

RB makes sense

Yes I agree you make a good analysis. The PJAK leadershiip is the hard core ones. They are trying to win over the others. The Islamic Republic is given them ammo. But the core types will never change. 

What bugs me is this knee jerk reaction that anyone opposed to IRI is "good". Not being willing to accept that there are bad on all sides. I think PJAK is bad and just as bad as IRI. Same for PKK.

RG more

Are you seriously telling me PJAK; PKK and their offshoots are not separetist? Why don't you ask them. I don't buy this "it is IRI" doing it. Yes IRI is horrible but it is just an excuse for these guys.

I don't mean all Kurds but I do mean PJAK. They pride themselves on sending young women to their death. Sounds like MEK. What then say they get a "free Kurdistan". Weak; small and ready for exploitation by the multinationals. 

But I am sure that it will bring nothing more than war and misery. On one hand non stop attacks by Turks. On the other hand o one to defend them. Nothing in the world is worse than the idealist dreamers.

One thing I forgot to include

We have essentially two kinds of separatists.

One group is composed of hardcore ideological separatists, who wish to breakway from a nation state based on purely ethnic and cultrual reasons, no matter the circumstances of their lives. These are what I call permanent separatists, who will never change their minds.

The second group is composed of people who have been either mistreated by the state for various reasons or suffer economically/materially or both and join separatist movements. These are what I call the temporary separatists, who can change their views, if treated decently by the state and made to feel they have a stake in the future of the country, instead of being ostracized. 

My belief is that in Iran's case the former group, who have been around for decades if not centuries, are a small minority while the latter group probably make up the majority of current separatists.

My comments were about the latter group, the temporary separatists. Those are the ones that can be won over, once we have a decent regime in Iran.

RG

I believe you are misunderstanding me. I do not say Kurdish people are separatists. I say there are such elements among them. And that they are being provoked by West. I don't know who speaks for "Kurdish People".

I particularly dislike groups who claim to speak for one group or another. All I know is that separatism has been exploited all over the world. If you do not believe me then just go read history. Not every thing in the world is IRI propaganda. 

VPK: where do you get this "separatist" claim from?

Why do you allow yourself to believe in this nonsense of propaganda directly from Islamist regime's ministry of intelligenc?

Have you ever been to Kurdistan? Do you know What is happening there? Do you know what Kurdish people want? Did you read what Myself and zendanian wrote here?

"Personal business must yield to collective interest."

VPK

Yes, Iran has had separatists for a long time. I didn't say otherwise.

During Reza Shah's rule a lot of separatist activity was mainly due to the uncertainty about the future of Iran that followed in the aftermath of the fall of the Qajars. This was exploited by colonial powers in the power vaccuum until Reza Shah restored order and brought Iran back from the brink.

But let's be clear, despite their good work in modernising Iran and improving the economy of the country, separatism remained an issue because the Pahlavi's were authoritarian rulers and did not allow political freedom and people participation in the running of the country.

Under the IR not only has the standard of living of Iranians lowered dramatically, but the brutality of the regime in suppressing freedoms and mistreatment of people has increase ten fold.

I'm surprised you do not see these developments as major underlying causes in the intensification of separatist tendencies.

This should not be dismissed as blind hatred of the IR, but a common sense analysis of the reality on the ground.

RB

You may be right about  Vatnam. But I disagree with you about the separatists. They have been around for generations. How about the separatists in Reza Shahs times? Do you blame that on IRI also.

I think the hatred of IRI is getting the better of you. IRI is bad but IRI is not the cause of them. They have been around for ages. Always supporter by enemies of Iran. From Russia then to Neocon now.

Vatnam sounds a lot like BoosBoos

who got banned from IC not too long ago.

But anyway, I think all of us here are for the preservation of Iran's territorial integrity and totally against any separatist movements in Iran. The question is, out of these groups active inside Iran who is for genuine freedom under a united Iran and who is using the freedom angle as a cover for separatist ends.

I don't really know enough about Pejak to make an informed comment on their real objectives, yet. But I do know, the main motivation for separatist tendencies has been the actions of the Islamic Republic. The brutality towards any challenge to its rule, mistreatment of Iranian ethnic minorities, the regime's economic incompetence in improving the lives and welfare of people in Iran, not to mention rampant corruption, have all served as causes behind the deep dissatisfaction of the population and the fact that many people are simply fed up with their lives inside Iran.

It's quite simple really, set up a system of governance that provides genuine freedom, democracy, justice, protection of human/citizens/cultural rights combined with a system that works hard to improve job prospects, investment, education, social welfare and all round economic prosperity and you draw the sting out of the separatist movements.

Make ALL citizens of Iran proud and happy to be Iranians and you take away the motivation used by those who want to pull Iran apart

Sadly, the IR has been doing the exact opposite for 32 yeas.

VATANAM

What you say does have the ring of truth specially about the so called hikers. I have never believed the hikers story. The Kurds have been used and betrayed many time; hope they don't go for it now.

I am a proud Iranian, a Kord, Bakhtiari, and Tehrani, etc.

Israel/US having working with PJK for a long time in order to exploit their separatist intenton to their own advantage. It is not surprising that the kordestan is the only part of Iraq that is in relative calm for the past 8 years.

Remember those israeli american "HIKERS"?  Why do you think they were there? Gathering info and working on the ground with PJK perhaps? This is definitely a force that is supported by Israel/US as they support MEK. So let's separate the Kords from IRI and those atrocities. This is about proxiy Israel/US war using the PJK.

So, let's focus not on the Kord brothers, but the invasion of our country by Israeli/American clandestine war.

"all over the place from Kurd hating to Iran hating"

VPK: I see lots of Kurd hating comments here, which I believe are absolute disgrace, and I doubt if people who utter these comments are even Iranian.. If by Iran hating bit you are referring to the ones supporting the Kurdish Iranains rights, then you are very wrong.

On the armed robbery incident you mentioned, there are armed robbers all over the world of all ethnicities.

Your pan-iranist sentiments, I personally have no issues against. The task at hand I'd say is getting rid of IRI before we lose our entire country...

I repeat and emphasisze: the ridiculous accusation of separatism against main kurdish parties Komeleh and Democratic party are fabricated by the islamist regime in order to discredit the just struggle of Kurdish people for their rights within the boundaries of a united Iran, and justify their own imposition of martial law on entire western Iran 

"Personal business must yield to collective interest."

Simorgh

I agree with pretty much all you are saying to me. Why do you think I am studying Kurdish? After all it is not like I am going to use it in America. I do respect and appreciate our diversity. I am just opposed to troublemakers.

In fact if you read my other post you will see I support a two language system. Where each Ostan would have Persian and one other language of their choice. Absolutely you are right and I would love to hear what PKK has to say. In fact I will listen to them in Kurdish. That will prove to them my sincerity and respect for their people. It just happens that I am not in power! But if I was I would absolutely listen to what they have to say and take it to heart. I really do respect the Kurds.

Kurds got a raw deal split among many nations. I want a single united Kurdistan. As a part of Iran with a lot of local autonomy. With freedom to speak their Kurdish.

VPK

The incident which you described was that of highway robbery rather than a separatist attack. During the time of Reza Shah there was a genuine threat of Iran splitting up. Khuzestan (Arabestan as it was also called) was run by a Sheikh and the Russians had set up a break away republic in Gilan with Mirza Kuchik Khan Jangali. Reza Shah was justified to demand one Iranian national identity but the reality is that Iranian people do vary in culture, customs and dialacts. You cannot tell me that an Ahwazi or Bandari way of life is exactly the same as a Kurd or Esfahani. Or a Baluch is the same as an Azari. Yet ehat binds these people is a common history, shared values and a love for this land. I know this sounds patronising but you cannot set an exact standard of 'Iranianess' and dictate that peoppe adhere to it. Acknowledging the diversity of Iranian people is not the same as capitulating to separatist demands. Far from it. I am proud that Iranians are colourful and different andyou can see this carved on the walls and columns of Persepolis. The IR and to some extent the Shah did not fully appreciate the multi dimension of the Iranian people but this has ti change.
Let us see what the PKK and other Kurdish groups demand. Recognition of a Kurdish identity and even autonomy is not necessarily an existential threat. That is what the IR wants you to believe and I'm not falling for it.

R. Gilani

I know very little about Iranian Kurdestan.

But I do know about Turkish PKK. I have no mercy for them. For they have nothing to do with the Kurds. F.ucking bastards, they should be dealt with accordingly.

Recently, they've been heavily bombarded. Both from the Iranian and from the Turkish side. But I don't feel sorry for them. Am not embarassed to say it either.

PS. am not going to discuss the above video, somehow, looks propaganda piece, don't like it. 

Kurds pre IRI

Some of my relatives were on a bus during Reza Shah times. Their bus got held up by a group of Kurdish robbers. Right off the side of the road. Was that also the fault of IRI? There has been Kurds who want separatism for years.

Don't blame it on IRI because this *** has been going on for long before. I know you guys hate IRI but you have to be fair. IRI is evil but not just to Kurds and this is just an excuse for foreigners to stiff up trouble in Iran.

What a mess

People on this blog are all over the place from Kurd hating to Iran hating. Folks the facts are that Kurds are Iranian. Their language is very close the Middle Persian. I know because I am studying it.

Kurdish names; customs and so on are very close to pre-Islamic Iranian. They are foreigners in Turkey and Iraq. But a part of Greater Iran. Don't let your hate towards IRI blind you to this fact. There are always separatists who try to take advantage of things. Those people are neither friends of Kurds or other Iranians. They just want to divide and break so that it is simpler to control. That is all. They create fake ideas of "self determination" just to divide and weaken Iran.

Iran went through far more savage times than IRI. We did not need to divide up. The Safavids were by any definition worse than IRI. I am for giving Kurds and others rights as citizens of Iran but no separation no way.

Rea: It never was/is about PKK or Pejak.

It is about People of Iranian Kurdestan rejecting the islamist regime for what it really is, from day dot. It is about Iranian Kurdestan being under virtual military occupation by the islamist regime for the past 32 years. It is about the unspeakable crimes committed against the kurdish population by the islamist regime. A vast number of people commenting here, i doubt have ever visited Kurdestan. I have and I know what is happening there. I encourage you to read some of the links provided here by zendanian and myself.

 Iraj Khan: I was half expecting for someone to drag jews into this discussion too! But since you did, where is your definite proof that "Pejak is being armed by Israel" (IRI sources will be rejected on grounds of Bias!!!)?

BTW, assuming what you say is correct, it would not alter the fact that islamist regime is the real cause of Kurdestan tragedy and in fact it would be  more of justification that the islamist regime must be overthrown to prevent our countries disintegration...

"Personal business must yield to collective interest."

Politics in the Middle East is local

as well as international.

Case in point: the political fight between Israel and Turkey also effects Iran's borders with Iraq's Kurdestan.

This is what Lieberman Israel's foreign minister, (who was working as a bouncer in Russia before migrating to Israel in the 1970s) has said to the government of Turkey regarding Israel's support for PKK (PJAK is a branch of PKK):

"Israel's Yediot Aharonot daily reported Friday that Lieberman had suggested supporting,... backing the Kurdish separatist PKK and launching a diplomatic offensive against Ankara."

//news.yahoo.com/turkish-official-slams-mooted-israeli-reprisals-131302711.html

It means Israel is arming and supporting PKK and PJAK.

I'm just saying.

Iraj

Let's not get too touchy about PKK / PJAK

"It is time that we embrace our diversity but accept the indivisibility of our nation."

The only thing I agree with, the rest is to be dealt with accordingly.

No matter grudges you hold against the IRI,  never ever allow your nation to fall apart.

This is very sad clip on

This is very sad clip on so many levels...

So I came across a blog that listed Gandhi’s Top 10 Fundamentals for Changing the World. Most of you might of seen or heard it already , but I'd like to share that with you all anyway:

1. Change

“You must be the change you want to see in the world.”

“As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world – that is the myth of the atomic age – as in being able to remake ourselves.”

2. Control.

“Nobody can hurt me without my permission.”



3. Forgiveness

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”

“An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”



4. Action.

“An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.”



5. The present moment.

“I do not want to foresee the future. I am concerned with taking care of the present. God has given me no control over the moment following.”



6. Everyone is human.

“I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough to confess my errors and to retrace my steps.”

“It is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.”



7. Persist.

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”



8. Goodness.

“I look only to the good qualities of men. Not being faultless myself, I won’t presume to probe into the faults of others.”

“I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people.”

9. Truth

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”

“Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well.”

10. Development.

“Constant development is the law of life, and a man who always tries to maintain his dogmas in order to appear consistent drives himself into a false position.”

EDUCATE & FREE IRANIANS , FREE IRAN !

Love & Peace

...

Rozbeh jan, thanks for your informed commentary. And a minor clarification on Komala's policy on Armed Struggle. Komala has not abandoned this form of struggle and maintains its Peshmerge force. As you correctly point out, however at the moment and for the forseeable future, priority goes to building social spaces, gatherings and institutions that could enable mass participation. For a full text please see Political Report to the 12th Congress. The last section on  Armed Struggle.

//komalah.org/farsi/asnad/3172.html

-----------------------------------------------------------

For your listening pleasure, a blast from the past,  and  reminder of all those anti-fascist partisans , past, present, future!

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNocyz1NRjA

How far could we go behind one's death?

I don't think murderous approach could help our country.  Iranians kill Iranians and vise versa, which reflect a loser image of our country to the world.

Roozbeh + Zendanian

Thank you very much for the information. My patriotic sentiments a for Iran has a knee kerk reaction when I hear 'Kurdish resistance' but you have have given me a better foresight into what our Kursih compatriots are actually fightin for.

It is the IR which is the greatest terrorist regime on the planet. You can see this from Baghdad to Ramallah. 

PN: It's been very long and bloody complicated for 32 years

IR has historically thrived on crisis, and since its inception it has created many different crisis to maintain its bloody rule (taking over of US embassy, needless continuation of war with Iraq,..): it would not be improbable if it uses the excuse of a military intervention to declare an official Martial-Law when all its other options fail in confronting popular resistance (in a few months?).

It's been very long and bloody complicated for thirty two years already. Haven't you had enough?

Before asking for extermination of all Iranian Kurds....

using your computer keyboards, first have a cool aid, then take a deep breath, then learn a few facts:

1) The main Kurdish political parties, namely Komeleh and Democratic party, both enjoying overwhelming support of the Kurdish Iranians, have stopped armed struggle against the islamic regime at least ten years ago, in preference to political activities. PKK is a Turkish entity, nothing to do with Iran.

2) Pjak(which is the smallest one of three, with estimated maximum of only 3000 armed fighters) did not invoke this recent armed conflict with IRI. The whole thing was started by Islamist regime. The target of islamist regime is to militarise the entire region due to rising public unrest in entire western Iran (Kurdestan and Azarbaijan). In fact only last week, Pjak offered a ceasefire which was rejected by the regime.

3) None of these kurdish parties are asking for separation from Iran. Of course some kurds do and I'd understand that given the horrible treatment from islamist regime, although I disagree.

4) There is not a military solution to Kurdestan issue. Kurdestan issue   and indeed all other ethnic Issues in Iran can and will only be resolved through peaceful discussions, once the real source and cause of problem, namely the islamist regime is overthrown and replaced with a secular Democratic  republic, respecting the rights of all Iranians  irrespecticve of their religion, ethnicity, political views or gender.

Finally, before shedding tears for IRCG dead, take a look here and see what these murderers have done to the innocent defenceless Kurdish women and children.

"Personal business must yield to collective interest."

Well Pendar Jan

"That will be the end of Iran"

But you [plural. the 'experts'] said that about Iraq. How the Shias, Kurds and Sunnis would want an independent homeland.  Even though the Iraq war was an umitigated disaster at least the country has remained intact and the only people who threaten its existence are the IR friends of yours.

Finally, for a woman on the record of being opposed to nationalism and couldn't care less about Persepolis being destroyed or whether the Persian Gulf is renamed or not, you have some front.

I will take advice about who to support from someone who actually cares about Iran. You certainly do not fit that criteria by any stretch of the imagination.