Book contents
- The Cambridge History of the Kurds
- The Cambridge History of the Kurds
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Tables
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Additional material
- Introduction
- Part I Historical Legacies
- Part II Regional Political Developments and the Kurds in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries
- Part III Domestic Political Developments and the Kurds in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries
- 12 Kurdish Nationalism in Turkey, 1898–2018
- 13 Why Autonomy Hasn’t Been Possible for Kurds in Turkey
- 14 The Kurdistan Region of Iraq, 1991–2018
- 15 Street Protest and Opposition in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq
- 16 Minority, State and Nation
- 17 The Kurdish Question in Syria, 1946–2019
- 18 The Yezidis in the Soviet Union
- Part IV Religion and Society
- Part V Kurdish Language
- Part VI Art, Culture and Literature
- Part VII Transversal Dynamics
- Index
- References
16 - Minority, State and Nation
Kurdish Society in Iran in the Aftermath of the Revolution
from Part III - Domestic Political Developments and the Kurds in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 April 2021
Book contents
- The Cambridge History of the Kurds
- The Cambridge History of the Kurds
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Tables
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Additional material
- Introduction
- Part I Historical Legacies
- Part II Regional Political Developments and the Kurds in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries
- Part III Domestic Political Developments and the Kurds in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries
- 12 Kurdish Nationalism in Turkey, 1898–2018
- 13 Why Autonomy Hasn’t Been Possible for Kurds in Turkey
- 14 The Kurdistan Region of Iraq, 1991–2018
- 15 Street Protest and Opposition in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq
- 16 Minority, State and Nation
- 17 The Kurdish Question in Syria, 1946–2019
- 18 The Yezidis in the Soviet Union
- Part IV Religion and Society
- Part V Kurdish Language
- Part VI Art, Culture and Literature
- Part VII Transversal Dynamics
- Index
- References
Summary
The Kurdish question, four decades after the Iranian Revolution, continues to be considered one of the most serious threats to Iran’s territorial integrity by the clerical regime. In turn, Iranian Kurds often feel marginalized, discriminated and dissatisfied with the treatment they receive from Shiite Persians who dominate the multinational country of Iran. In a quest to better understand the conflictive relationship between Kurds and the Iranian regime, this chapter intends to examine the social and political dynamics of Iranian Kurdistan by analysing the interaction between social forces, Kurdish organizations and the central state. For this purpose, it aims to examine three major aspects that have shaped Kurdish society since the 1979 Iranian Revolution. The first section presents an overview of the demography, social and class structure of the Kurdish people. By focusing on state-minority interaction, the second section analyses the Kurdish question in Iranian discourse and various state policies vis-â-vis the Kurds. The third section addresses the Kurdish movement’s responses to state policies. It distinguishes between organizations present in Kurdistan and the Kurdish movement which incorporates a wide array of aims, interests and actors. The chapter concludes with a brief discussion of new spaces and prospects for action.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge History of the Kurds , pp. 407 - 435Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021
References
Abrahamian, E. (1982). Iran between Two Revolutions. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
AI (Amnesty International) (2007). ‘Iran: Amnesty International condemns continued repression of human rights defenders’. www.amnesty.or.jp/en/news/2007/1016_768.html.Google Scholar
AI (Amnesty International) (2008). ‘Iran: Human rights abuses against the Kurdish minority’. www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE130882008ENGLISH.pdf.Google Scholar
Alizadeh, I. (2000). ‘Evaluation of the Komala and the Communist Party of Iran’. www.komalah.org/kp/ketab/azkhci.pdf.Google Scholar
Ashraf, A. (1993). The crisis of national and ethnic identities in contemporary Iran. Iranian Studies, 26 (1/2), 159–64.Google Scholar
Atlas d’Iran (1998). ‘Les migrations’. Documentation française, CNRS, UMR 7528. www.irancarto.cnrs.fr/data/atlas_iran/catalog/txt/chap7/AI-020701_fr.html.Google Scholar
Bozarslan, H. (2009). Conflit kurde: Le brasier oublié du Moyen-Orient. Paris: Editions Autrement.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buchta, W. (2000). Who Rules Iran? The Structure of Power in the Islamic Republic. Washington, DC: Washington Institute for Near East Policy.Google Scholar
DW (2013). ‘Ethnic minorities’ dissatisfaction with the failure of Rouhani’s promises’. www.dw.com/fa-ir/روحانی-وعدههاینارضایتیاقلیتهایقومیازعملینشدن/a-17276929.Google Scholar
EagletonJr, W. (1991). La Republique kurde de 1946, trans. C. Ter-Sarkissian. Brussels: Editions Complexe.Google Scholar
Ezzatyar, A. (2016). The Last Mufti of Iranian Kurdistan: Ethnic and Religious Implications in the Greater Middle East. 1st ed. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Farsnews (2016). ‘Researcher’s warning of the damages of ethnic and linguistic parliamentary groups’. https://bit.ly/3absBOp.Google Scholar
Gadani, J. (2008a). 50 Years of Combat: A Brief History of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan. Vol. 1. Dihok, Iraqi Kurdistan: Xanî Publishing House.Google Scholar
Gadani, J. (2008b). 50 Years of Combat: A Brief History of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan. Vol. 2. Dihok, Iraqi Kurdistan: Xanî Publishing House.Google Scholar
Ghaderzadeh, O. and Mohammadzadeh, H. (2018). Study of ethnic identity and politicalisation of ethnicity among Iranian Kurds. Pajooheshaye Rahbordiye Amniyat Wa Nazme Ejtemai, 20, 19–42.Google Scholar
Ghassemlou, A. R. (1978). Le Kurdistan d’Iran. In Chaliand, G. (ed.), Les Kurdes et le Kurdistan: la question nationale kurde au Proche-Orient (pp. 155–96). Paris: Éditions Maspero.Google Scholar
Homa, A. (2017). ‘Khamenei: US seeks to create “new Israel” through Kurdistan referendum’. Kurdistan 24, 4 October. www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/4caa972d-ea3b-4e81-8deb-0be11c4e8e0b.Google Scholar
HRW (Human Rights Watch) (1997). ‘Ethnic minorities’. www.hrw.org/reports/1997/iran/Iran-06.htm#P421_90030.Google Scholar
HRW (Human Rights Watch) (2009). ‘Iran: Freedom of expression and association in the Kurdish regions’. www.hrw.org/report/2009/01/09/iran-freedom-expression-and-association-kurdish-regions.Google Scholar
Institut kurde (1999). ‘Bulletin de liaison et d’information’. No. 166–167 (February).Google Scholar
Institut kurde (2017). ‘The Kurdish population’. www.institutkurde.org/en/info/the-kurdish-population-1232551004.Google Scholar
Jwaideh, W. (2006). The Kurdish National Movement: Its Origins and Development. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.Google Scholar
Katouzian, H. (1981). The Political Economy of Modern Iran: Despotism and Pseudo-modernism, 1926–1979. 1st ed. London: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
KDPI (2016). ‘The Political Bureau of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan addresses the people and political organisations of Iran’. https://bit.ly/3cUPbwq.Google Scholar
Keddie, N. R. (1968). The Iranian village before and after land reform. Journal of Contemporary History, 3 (3), 69–91.Google Scholar
Keyhan (1979). ‘The Sanandaj religious leader, Ahmad Moftizadeh: We do not waive the Kurdish right of autonomy’. 27 February.Google Scholar
Kohnepoushi, M. (2004). Ethnic discrimination in Iranian Kurdistan. Zrebar, 55, 138–64.Google Scholar
Komala (1982). ‘Resolutions and communications adopted by the Third Congress of the Revolutionary Organization of the Toilers of Iranian Kurdistan (Komala)’. www.iran-archive.com/sites/default/files/sanad/komale_kongereye_3_mosavabat.pdf.Google Scholar
Komala (2012). ‘Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan: Identity and goals (the document of Komala’s Thirteenth Congress)’. www.komala.org/IMG3/book/20110502ahdaf-v-shenaseh.pdf.Google Scholar
Madih, A.-A. (2007). The Kurds of Khorasan. Iran & the Caucasus, 11 (1), 11–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Melucci, A. (1996). Challenging Codes: Collective Action in the Information Age. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
NYT (New York Times) (1979). ‘Iran’s troops crush Kurdish rebel siege; new fight expected’. 27 August. www.nytimes.com/1979/08/27/archives/irans-troops-crush-kurdish-rebel-siege-new-fight-expected.html.Google Scholar
NYT (New York Times) (1997). ‘Berlin court says top Iran leaders ordered killings’. 11 April. www.nytimes.com/1997/04/11/world/berlin-court-says-top-iran-leaders-ordered-killings.html.Google Scholar
Pejwak (1987). ‘Interview of Pejwak with the comrade Abdollah Ghaderi’. www.kurdipedia.org/files/books/2013/89587.PDF?ver=130181741685446746.Google Scholar
Péroncel-Hugoz, J. P. (1983). ‘Des Kurdes d’Iran demandent une aide humanitaire internationale’. Le Monde, 20 June.Google Scholar
Radio Farda (2015). ‘The cancellation of the licence of 22 publications in Kurdistan province due to financial problems’. www.radiofarda.com/a/o2-kurdista-newpapers/27394738.html.Google Scholar
Ramazani, R. K. (1980). Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Middle East Journal, 34 (2), 181–204.Google Scholar
Rouhani (2013). ‘Statement Number 3: The rights of ethnic and religious minorities’. http://rouhani.ir/event.php?event_id=63.Google Scholar
Scott, J. C. (1990). Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Sharifi Dryaz, M. (2015). De la résistance microscopique à l’action collective organisée: Engagement et désengagement des militants dans l’espace kurde. Unpublished PhD thesis, L’École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS).Google Scholar
Sharifi Dryaz, M. (2017). Les Dynamiques de la Mobilisation Identitaire dans l’Espace Kurde. Anatoli, 8, 185–204.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sheykholislami, J. (2011). Kurdish Identity, Discourse, and New Media. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tarrow, S. G. (2011). Power in Movement: Social Movements and Contentious Politics. 3rd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tavakoli, K. (2004). Kurdistan and the second of Khordad event. Goftegoo Magazine, 40, 35–43.Google Scholar
Vali, A. (2011). Kurds and the State in Iran: The Making of Kurdish Identity. London: I.B. Tauris.Google Scholar
Ward, S. R. (2009). Immortal: A Military History of Iran and Its Armed Forces. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yildiz, K. and Tayşi, T. B. (2007). The Kurds in Iran: The Past, Present and Future. London: Pluto Press.Google Scholar