Jun

9

Hijri: Why Iran’s Elections Should Be Boycotted

Filed Under Kurdistan, Iran | Comments Off

It is in democracy that modern forms of political authority find their most powerful source of legitimacy. Even dictatorships know this. But instead of embarking on a process of genuine democratization, dictatorial regimes engage in manipulating practices by enshrining popular sovereignty – the most fundamental element of democracy – in their constitutions and some of them even hold elections. Their aim is to uphold the appearance of democracy – domestically and internationally.

Jun

5

Iranian presidential debate

Filed Under Iran | Comments Off

Time

Los Angeles Times

Tehran Times

Video in Persian

May

26

Videos of the Azeri student demonstration

Filed Under Iran | Comments Off

Part One

Part Two

May

25

Azeri students demonstrate against Kahtemi

Filed Under Iran | Comments Off

A group of Azeri students staged a demonstration yesterday at the University of Tehran against what they perceived as condescending remarks about the Azeri people by former president Mohammed Khatemi.

Later on the students started shouting out slogans against the regime and demanded that the Azeri people be granted their freedom. They also demanded that Iran’s different nationalities rights be guaranteed in the constitution.

Most of the student protests in Iran, particularly those that are staged by students from the different nationalities, begin with a demands that the regime take action against a specific issue, but they always turn into demonstrations against the regime, most of them demanding equality, respect of human rights and the right of self-determination for the different nationalities.

May

24

Renowned Kurdish flute player passes away

Filed Under Kurdistan | Leave a Comment

The renowned Kurdish flute player Qadir Abdullazadeh, known as Qale Merren, passed away last Thursday at the hospital in the city of Bokan in Kurdistan. Several thousand Kurds participated in his funeral ceremony.

Qale Merren was known for playing the instrument Shmshal (flute) and to have composed music pieces that have become popular in the Kurdish liberation movement.

In an interview with Tishk TV Qale Merren talked about the Kurdish leader Dr. Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou, who was assassinated by Iranian agents, with tears in his eyes. Qale Merre stated that he hoped that God would revenge the suffering of the Kurdish people and that he hoped than that all four parts of Kurdistan would be liberated.

May

24

Iran blocks access to Facebook

Filed Under Iran | Leave a Comment

According to BBC, Iran has blocked access to Facebook, supposedly to hinder supporters of one of the candidates to organize. Iran has in the past blocked access to several Kurdish and Iranian opposition websites due to these websites “satanic content”.

The regime attempts to stop people from getting information on the Internet, there are several reports of Western companies providing the technology needed to block access to websites and monitor E-mails and other ways of communication to Iran.

May

23

Student protest in Tabriz

Filed Under Iran | Leave a Comment

According to reports from the University in Tabriz more than 1500 students and protested against a Strongest Man competition that took place close to the university. Some of the participants of the Strongest Man competition abused some of the students from the university. The security guards didn’t protect the students; consequently the students staged a protest against the security forces.

May

23

Is Obama giving Iran the time it needs to build a nuclear bomb?

Filed Under Iran, United States | Leave a Comment

Telegraph:

Has President Obama inadvertently given Iran the green light to develop an atom bomb? I only ask because it appears to be the logical conclusion to be drawn from his announcement this week that he is giving Iran until the end of the year to decide whether or not to co-operate with the West over its controversial nuclear programme.

May

22

Interpol issues a warrant for Mohsen Rezai

Filed Under Iran, Interpol | Comments Off

Interpol has issued a warrant for Mohsen Rezai, currently the Secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran and candidate for president, for involvement in the suicide bombing of a Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

May

21

PDKI and Komala urges people to boycott the “elections”

Filed Under Kurdistan, Iran | Comments Off

In a joint statement our party and Komala urged the people of Kurdistan and Iran to boycott the upcoming presidential election in Iran. The statement describes the election in terms of a charade and points to the fact that the Guardian Council has only approved 4 candidates out of the several hundred that decided to run for the presidency. PDKI and Komala describes this process in Iran not as an election but rather as an appointment by the ruling elite in Tehran.

Furthermore the statement urges the Kurdish people not to be deceived by promises about minority rights (which the regime describes i terms of “tribal rights”). Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamnei, visited Iranian Kurdistan and spent 8 days in different Kurdish cities, making different speeches urging the Kurdish people not to listen to “satanic groups” (referring to Kurdish political parties). Two of the regimes candidates have presented different political “programs” on how to deal with the “issues of the different tribes of Iran”, promising to work for these “tribes’” integration into the Islamic political system. Beside the fact that Kurdish opposition groups’ reject the notion that Kurds and other nationalities are “Iranian tribes”, they have described these programs as a tool to mislead the different nationalities, in particular the Kurdish people who have in large boycotted previous elections in Iran, in order to win legitimacy by claiming that the different nationalities are supporting the regime through their participating in the elections.

Furthermore the statement asks the Kurdish people and other nationalities in Iran to boycott the elections on the basis of the regime’s actions during the past 30 years. The different nationalities in Iran will not be granted their rights as long as the current system is in place; the different nationalities demands for rights and share of power in Iran have been refused by the regime during the past 30 years, and the regime will not change its policy of denying them these rights.

The statement also points to the fact that the current legal framework does not allow real change in relation to democracy and minority rights. PDKI and Komala also urge the Kurdish people to take into account that the regime is facing pressure both from within the country and from the International Community on issues that the regime cannot solve. Thus a participation in the elections will only grant the regime legitimacy to continue its destructive policies both inside and outside of Iran’s boarders.

Search

Recently Written

Categories

Archives

Jun

9

Hijri: Why Iran’s Elections Should Be Boycotted

Jun

5

Iranian presidential debate

May

26

Videos of the Azeri student demonstration

May

25

Azeri students demonstrate against Kahtemi

May

24

Renowned Kurdish flute player passes away

May

24

Iran blocks access to Facebook

May

23

Student protest in Tabriz

May

23

Is Obama giving Iran the time it needs to build a nuclear bomb?

May

22

Interpol issues a warrant for Mohsen Rezai

May

21

PDKI and Komala urges people to boycott the “elections”

Search

Recently Written

Categories

Archives

Links

Jun

9

Jun

5

May

26

May

25

May

24

May

24

May

23

May

23

May

22

May

21