And yet there is a massive military presence in Kermanshah, indicating that the militarisation implemented by former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is still current. The streets are filled with soldiers, large numbers of conscripts linger in the tiny cafés in the bazar and in restaurants. In spite of this, in Azadi Square, among the photographs of the martyrs of the Iran-Iraq war, dozens of groups of men can be seen selling contraband tablets and mobile phones while a little further along many successful illegal exchanges of dollars and roubles take place.
“The secret police know everything, they are the best in the world” people repeat everywhere all over Iran. This is perhaps the easiest way for the state to maintain control over society, avoiding public expressions of dissent which are relegated to the private sphere. We too came across men with tidy beards driving a white car through the streets of Kermanshah University. After asking us a few questions they not very politely asked us to leave the campus. These men are affiliated to paramilitary groups called basiji, or better described as “trouble makers” since, in the name of Islam, they are capable of causing problems to an ordinary couple of young people walking down the street.
In Iranian Kurdistan there are few traces of Tehran’s small signs of openness and everything appears to be strictly under control. This was the beginning of our difficult journey among the minority (mellat) that caused Ayatollah Khomeini the most problems;, the Sunni Kurdish inhabitants of these mountains where many are former communists.
Kermanshah’s Kurdish past
“At times the word minorities is used for the Kurds, Lori, Turks, Baloch, etc. These are not minorities because this would indicates a distinction between brothers. These problems have been caused by those who do not want Muslims to be united,” said Ruhollah Khomeini a few days after returning to Teheran in 1979 expressing the fear that demands, presented by linguistic, ethnic and religious minorities, could destabilize the new-born Islamic Republic. Iranian Kurds represent 10% of the population and Kurds played an important role in the 1979 revolution. Khomeini outlawed Iranian Kurdistan’s Democratic Party (KDP-I, supported by the International Socialist, while the movement’s two leaders Qasemlu and Sharafkandi were killed). Thousands of Kurds charged with being dissidents were executed following summary trials.
And so, 35 years on, little of the ancient Kurdish identity remains in Kermanshah and the city’s inhabitants are now imbued with Persian nationalism. This has also been facilitated by the magnificent Sassanid-era locations of Bisetoun and Taghboustan surrounding the city. Furthermore, in the city centre, among the very narrow alleys and mud houses, there are ancient homes from the Qajar, Takieh Biglar Baigi and Moaven times, as well as the immense and ancient bazar. What remains of the Kurdish past is the language, which is still spoken, although only Farsi is permitted in schools and public buildings, and the music. The dances at weddings and the songs heard on the streets are Kurdish. From singer Nasser Razazi (who now lives in Sweden) to Hassan Zikak, from Adnan Pavei to Leyla Farighi, the rhythm that unites contemporary pop music and the songs passed down is what is loved in these lands.
There are also some traditional garments. Agha (an ancient word used to describe land owners) is now an insult addressed at those wearing the wide trousers called chokorané, which depending on the various tribes have different belts (shaal) and headwear (jamana). From the jaf to the shakak, from the sorani to the faily every area in Iranian Kurdistan has its own language and customs that are, in particular, present in the Kurdish cities of Arbil, Haulagba, Suleimanya and Kanakin in Iraq. Even the Kurdish mullahs have different clothes, far more secular ones than their Persian counterparts, while the women are wrapped in coloured flowery veils. Women are central to the Kurdish tradition, so much so that in the cities there are statues of ancient heroines who saved Kurdish cities from invaders or who owned large plantations.
In Sanandaj, between Barzani and Ocalan
While in Kermanshah those supporting Kurdish independence are often considered terrorists, the atmosphere in Sanandaj is very different. In 2003, when reformist Mohammed Khatami was president, the House of Kurds was opened here in the ancient Qajar palace, presenting old customs and the medicinal secrets of these people. “We receive government subsidies and hundreds of visitors come every month,” says the centre’s director. Here one can admire busts of important Kurds, from Reza Talebani to the poet Karkuk and the calligrapher Kalhoar. It is an attempt to normalise the presence of the Kurds in Persian society following the repression of the independence movements.
There are also many Kurdish language local newspapers published in Sanadaj, from the Sirwan to the Abidar, the Kushk and the literary magazine Serva. “In recent years we have been teaching Kurdish language and literature at the Kurdistan University,” says Nasser Rashwan. This professor of economics makes no secret that he admires Abdullah Ocalan (leader of the PKK, the Kurdish Workers Party) and Massoud Barzani (president of Iraqi Kurdistan). Although the Iranian Kurds are considered to be distant from the Turkish, Syrian and Iraqi Kurdish movements, Kurdish leaders are extremely popular on the streets of Sanandaj, but their names are only whispered.
Keivan, a young KDP-I supporter, does not look to Iraq. “The technocrats in power in Iraq are a corrupt caste and the same can be said about Barzani. In my opinion the only Kurdish leader who is a reference point is Ocalan,” added the young man. There are many supporters of the Turkish Kurdish movement here. Nabid tells us that until just a few years ago he had fought in the Abidan mountains with the Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK). “I abandoned political activism to look for a job,” he admitted bitterly. It was his opinion that the Kurdish opposition to the Iranian regime is anti-religious and hence most of these movements have socialist aspirations, but are also anti-Shiite now and in conflict with Khomeini ideology imposed after the revolution.
After the 2003 war with Iraq broke out, there were many Pasdaran attacks on Kurdish paramilitary organisations. The Kurdish separatist group Pezhak constantly clashed with Iranian police forces in Urumieh province. Similar clashes are frequent between Iranian soldiers and Kurdish rebels from the Kongra-Gel group. With independence assured for Iraqi Kurdistan, relations with Iranian Kurds have intensified, while the destinies of Syrian Kurds remain uncertain following the crisis, although in Damascus they enjoy great autonomy. While Ocalan’s letter last March opened a dialogue between Turkish Kurds and the government in Ankara, in Sanandaj everything still remains to be done so as to acknowledge the right of a minority forgetting its roots.
Translated by Francesca Simmons
Photo by Hamed Masoumi (cc)