Iranian Kurdish Parties KDP, KDPI Meet for First Time Since 2006 Split
14/12/2012 RUDAW By FUAD HAQIQI – KOYA, Kurdistan Region – The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI) and Iran’s Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) met for the first time this week since splitting into two groups in 2006, for talks aimed at a possible reunification, officials said.
“Both parties believe that they have a mutual agenda and must resolve their differences in order to realize that agenda, said Qadir Wirya, a member of the KDP’s senior leadership. He told Rudaw that, “In general unification between the two parties was discussed in the talks.” Hama Nazif Qadiri, a senior KDPI official, confirmed that the aim of the meeting was to improve relations, but said that, “Unification requires building trust between the two parties.”
Wirya agreed that, “The process takes a lot of effort from both sides.” At a 2006 convention, KDPI members elected Mustafa Hijri as leader, forcing a split that created the KDP under the leadership of Khalid Azizi. Hijri represented the KDPI at the reunification talks.
“Both parties discussed several political issues directly related to Iranian Kurdistan,” Wirya said. “A mechanism to participate in national and international meetings related to Iran also was discussed,” he added. Qadiri did not directly address whether the meeting meant recognition of the KDP by his party. “The most important thing for KDPI is to hold a dialogue with all Iranian Kurdish parties, regardless of their ideological beliefs,” Qadiri said.