SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region - Kurdish political theorist Abbas Vali has warned that Iran’s Kurdish opposition groups should not lay down their arms, citing the “critical conditions” in the country. He added these groups should instead strengthen their military capabilities to be prepared to act “if the center in Iran collapses.”
Speaking to Rudaw English on Friday during the inaugural Kurdish Studies Forum at the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS), Vali said that groups such as the Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK), the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), and Komala must preserve their military strength.
“In such critical conditions, as it is in Iran, all Kurdish political parties must preserve their military force, even strengthen it, because if the center in Iran collapses, they should have the power to reign in their own region,” he said. “I think staying armed and consolidating their military power is crucial, and they should watch the situation in Iran.”
Iran’s so-called Axis of Resistance has suffered major blows. Israel’s military campaign following the outbreak of the 2023 war with Hamas severely degraded Hezbollah’s leadership and arsenal in Lebanon, while the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria cut off Tehran’s vital supply lines to Lebanon. The loss and weakening of these allies, combined with reduced activity by Iran’s proxies in Iraq, have diminished Iran’s regional capabilities.
The 12-day war between Iran and Israel earlier this year further exposed Tehran’s vulnerabilities after Israeli airstrikes killed dozens of top Iranian commanders and scientists.
These setbacks come as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) announced a unilateral ceasefire in February after its imprisoned leader, Abdullah Ocalan, urged the group to disarm as part of a new peace process with Ankara. A symbolic disarmament ceremony followed in July in the Kurdistan Region’s Sulaimani province. The Turkish parliament has formed a commission to find a legal framework for the process.
PJAK and other Kurdish parties in Iran, however, said Ocalan’s call did not apply to them.
PJAK, widely seen as an offshoot of the PKK, operates from bases in the Kurdistan Region’s Mount Qandil, where the PKK is also headquartered. The group has clashed with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and is banned in Iran, which designates PJAK and similar factions as terrorist organizations and has carried out cross-border air and ground operations claiming to target them.
Vali stressed, however, that conditions in Iran are different, making disarmament unthinkable for Iran’s Kurdish “political” parties.
“The situation in Iran is very sensitive; we don’t know what is going to happen, not only next month, not only next year, but we don’t know what is going to happen next week,” he said. “If any Kurdish political party in Iran thinks about disarmament now, I think they’ve got to get their head examined.”
During the Iran-Israel war, the KDPI made statements in support of ending the Islamic rule in Iran.
The theorist argued that Kurdish groups in Iran remain the only “coherent” segment of the country’s “opposition”, maintaining close ties with their grassroots base. For that reason, he said, they should not only remain armed but also work toward forming a united military command to prepare for a potential collapse of the current establishment.
“What is very important [is that]… they should unite, and they should actually create a united military command, and this united military command will be absolutely crucial for controlling Rojhelat, controlling Iranian Kurdistan if the regime in the center collapses,” Vali said.
Kurds refer to the predominantly Kurdish areas of Iran as Iranian Kurdistan or Rojhelat (the Kurdish word for east).
While urging Iranian Kurdish parties to hold firm, Vali also expressed skepticism about the current peace process between Ankara and the PKK, warning that it is being conducted “behind closed doors and in secret.”
Turkey formed a parliamentary commission in early August to draft a legal framework for peace talks between Ankara and the PKK. Shortly after its first meeting, parliament speaker Numan Kurtulmus announced that the body would operate under confidentiality rules, with its records sealed for 10 years.
“Both the government and the Kurdish movement are conducting this process behind closed doors and in secret,” he said. “That is very, very bad, negative, detrimental to the Kurdish cause.”
Turkey’s main pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) is serving as a mediator and the main communication channel between Ankara and imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan. The DEM Party sits on the commission alongside representatives from ruling and opposition parties.
The Turkish parliament’s summer recess ends on Wednesday. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set to address the legislature in the afternoon session. The commission is expected to submit its recommendations to the parliament.