Assassinated leader commemorated in Iranian Kurdistan
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Activists in the Kurdish city of Saghez on Saturday commemorated the former leader of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) Sadegh Sharafkandi on the 24th anniversary of his assassination by Iranian emissaries.
Members and activists of the PDKI posted leaflets and posters of Sharafkandi on the walls of universities, public buildings, and boulevards in Saghez of Iranian Kurdistan (Rojhelat).
According to the website of the Kurdish party, all political activities are banned by the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Sharafkandi and three other Kurdish politicians were assassinated by Iranian agents and emissaries at the Mykonos restaurant in the German capital of Berlin on Sep. 17, 1992.
A German court sentenced two of the murderers to life sentences in a 1997 verdict.
However, the case remained open as an international warrant was issued for the then-Iranian Intelligence Minister Ali Fallahian, accused of masterminding the assassination.
Also, in the French capital of Paris, the former Peshmerga leader Sharafkandi was commemorated at his tomb in the Père Lachaise Cemetery where his predecessor Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou lies as well.
Ghassemlou was earlier assassinated by an Iranian delegation who met with him as part of a series of peace talks in the Austrian capital of Vienna.
The current leader of the PDKI Mustafa Hijri, Kurdistan Regional Government’s representative in France, and members of other Kurdish political parties from different parts of the Greater Kurdistan were present at the commemoration according to the PDKI website.
Founded in 1945 by the iconic Kurdish leader and President of the short-lived Kurdistan Republic Qazi Muhammad, PDKI has for decades been fighting for Kurdish autonomy and rights in Iran.
RENEWED WAR
The PDKI reignited a conflict with Iran in June this year, 20 years after their silencing of weapons in 1996 for the sake of not jeopardizing Kurdish gains in Iraq.
The fighting in the last three months had seen dozens of Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and Iranian soldiers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) killed in rural and mountainous areas of Rojhelat.
In response, Iran has repeatedly shelled areas in the Kurdistan Region where PDKI has bases.
On Saturday, at least 60 families were displaced because of Iranian shelling in the Sidekan area of Erbil Province.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany
(Reporting by Ari Khalidi)