MESOP FOCUS : THE TEHRAN MULLAHS ATTACK IRANIAN KURDS

Iranian Kurdish groups warn of further attacks against them in Kurdistan Region

By Rudaw 26 Dec 2016 – ERBIL, Kurdistan Region– Representatives from thirty Kurdish political factions on Sunday condemned last week’s deadly bombing in Koya which targeted the offices of Iran’s Kurdistan Democratic Party (PDK, HDK). The factions also expressed concern for what they described as possible escalation of attacks on Iran’s Kurdish opposition in the Kurdistan Region.

The envoys who represented Kurdish political parties and organisations from all four parts of Kurdistan issued a statement after the summit in Erbil calling on the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to prevent attacks on Kurdish groups and individuals opposed to the Islamic Republic. “We are concerned that the Kurdistan Region reemerge as a place for assassinations against Eastern Kurdistan’s political factions,” the representatives said in a statement on Sunday. The leader of the HDK said the meeting was held to show solidarity with the Iranian Kurdistan and also show support for the stability in the Kurdistan Region. Khalid Azizi told the delegates that the Kurds in Iran were not alone and had the “support of other parts of Kurdistan in these difficult times.”

“Our second message is that we are all committed to preserving security and stability in the Kurdistan Region,” Azizi said. No group has claimed responsibility for Koya bombing which killed 7 people and wounded several others but the HDK has accused Tehran of masterminding the attack. In a statement shortly after the attack the party said, based on previous experiences and its own calculations, it had little doubt about the perpetrators of the attacks which the HDK linked to the Islamic Republic.

“All the Kurdish factions share mutual political and national interests and we have said that our cooperation with other Kurdish parties is a political necessity,” HDK senior official Muhamd Nazif Qadiri told Rudaw and added that the “security of the Kurdistan Region was vital for all Kurdish groups that resided in the country.” Since the early 1990s Kurdistan Region has provided a sanctuary for Kurdish dissidents and parties opposed to neighboring countries although the KRG has urged the Kurdish groups to refrain from staging attacks on neighboring countries. www.mesop.de