PJAK and the broader Kurdish coalition have emphasised certain restraint or an independent course during the war, even as clashes continue inside Iran. What factors are guiding PJAK’s current military posture?

Whenever the attacks of the Islamic Republic reach a level that threatens the existence of the Kurdish people, we will certainly respond. In the past, whenever the regime attacked the Kurdish people or PJAK forces, we responded within the framework of the internationally recognised principle of legitimate self-defence.

PJAK is a political party. We seek to operate within the framework of democratic politics. We are not a traditional armed movement whose activities are defined solely by armed struggle. Our strategy is to build a democratic, self-administered society among the Kurdish people and to work toward the establishment of a democratic republic throughout Iran. The Islamic Republic wants to drag us into a long and exhausting war. Our objective, however, is to preserve the Kurdish people’s social and political potential for democratic struggle so that they can play their role when the right opportunity arises.

We are not anyone’s proxy force. We strongly reject the mindset that views the Kurds merely as a military force. The Kurds are a nation struggling for freedom and democracy. As long as the political future of the Kurdish people has not been clearly defined in the plans of the world’s major powers, and until we are certain that the Kurds will not once again become victims and will enjoy a political status worthy of their rights, we will not become part of any international coalition or project.

However, if we see a policy that genuinely serves the interests of the Kurdish people and is sincerely aimed at moving beyond the Islamic Republic toward the establishment of a democratic political system that benefits all the peoples of Iran, we will shape our own policies toward constructive engagement with governments and actors working against the Islamic Republic.

Do you condemn the American-Israeli attacks on Iran?

We do not believe the issue can be reduced to a simple choice between encouraging war or condemning war. PJAK does not pursue a policy of militarism, nor do we consider war an appropriate path to achieving freedom and democracy. At the same time, we believe the primary cause of the current conflict lies in the Islamic Republic’s repressive domestic policies and its expansionist policies across the region. This regime bears responsibility for the blood of thousands of Kurdish and Iranian citizens. It has repeatedly attacked our forces and continues to use severe violence against the Kurdish people. The wave of executions and repression inside Iran, particularly in Kurdish regions, continues unabated.

During last winter’s nationwide uprising against the regime, thousands of Kurds in Ilam and Kermashan — both integral parts of Kurdistan — were massacred. Therefore, we consider pressure on this dictatorial regime and strikes against its centres of repression to be positive, as long as they do not harm civilians or undermine the future right to self-determination of the peoples of Iran, including the Kurds.

How do you look at your relations with Israel and the U.S.?

PJAK struggles on the basis of the interests of the Kurdish nation and for the achievement of a democratic political status for the Kurds in Iran. For this reason, we keep our diplomatic channels open to all governments and political actors whose engagement could serve Kurdish interests, contribute to Kurdish freedom, and support the establishment of a democratic political system in Iran. Our only red line in relations with states and political forces is the protection of our people’s national interests. Any relationship that does not undermine Kurdish national interests and contributes to the expansion of freedom and democracy throughout Iran is, in our view, legitimate.

There have been discussions about Kurdish groups potentially playing a larger ground role or joining efforts against the Iranian state. Under what conditions would PJAK consider more active participation in the conflict?

If the current war and crisis reach a point where we believe the existence of the Kurdish people is under threat, and it becomes clear that our intervention is necessary to protect them, we will certainly make the decisions required by the situation.

At the same time, we believe that the Kurdish community in Iran has achieved a level of self-organisation that enables it, even under difficult circumstances, to protect its existence while continuing its democratic struggle for freedom.

PJAK is part of the Coalition of Political Forces of Iranian Kurdistan. How is coordination working within the coalition amid the war?

As PJAK, we strive to work in close coordination and cooperation with the other Kurdish parties within the framework of the Coalition of Political Forces of Iranian Kurdistan. So far, this cooperation, coordination, and convergence have been positive and constructive.

At present, the greatest threat facing the Kurdish people comes from the repressive policies of the Islamic Republic. For many years, Turkey pursued its anti-Kurdish policies with all the means at its disposal. However, for some time now, a process of dialogue and efforts to find a political and democratic solution to the Kurdish question has begun. If this process continues, it could also encourage a more positive perception of Turkey among the Kurds of Iran.

However, if these negotiations collapse, or if Turkey follows through on its threats to intervene against the Kurds of Iran during the current Iran–U.S.–Israel conflict, the region will undoubtedly face a new and serious crisis.

As for Iraq, as long as its policies remain under the influence of the Islamic Republic or are shaped by Turkey’s direction, it cannot exercise genuine political independence. The Kurds — whether in Iraq or Iran — pose no threat to Iraq. On the contrary, the further Iraq distances itself from anti-Kurdish policies, the greater its chances of achieving lasting stability in the future.

There are also deep concerns within Kurdish society regarding the policies of the U.S. and Israel toward the Kurds. America’s inconsistent approach in Rojava and toward the Syrian Kurds has also created concern among the Kurds of Iran. Likewise, the capture of the Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan and his transfer to Turkey — with Israel’s cooperation — remains deeply embedded in the collective memory of the Kurdish people.

Regional and global powers must abandon their traditional approach toward the Kurds. They should no longer view the Kurds merely as a pressure card, but rather as an influential political actor.

Looking ahead, what does PJAK envision for Iranian Kurdistan especially considering that Iran is under attack?

The Kurdish people possess significant political, intellectual, and defensive capacities. Their ability to influence geopolitical developments in both Iran and the wider region is considerable. In my view, the Kurds can continue their democratic struggle alongside the other peoples of Iran and play an important role in the country’s transition beyond the current regime.

During the ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ (Jin, Jiyan, Azadî) uprising in 2022-23, we witnessed how PJAK’s political vision and the Kurdish philosophy of struggle inspired people across Iran. I believe that if we continue our struggle within the framework of the ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ movement, the Kurdish people can achieve freedom while, within a democratic republic of Iran, exercising their right to self-determination through a system of democratic self-administration.

How do you look at Iran’s attacks on the Kurdistan Region of Iraq? Is it part of any larger Iranian plan to weaken the Kurdish resistance?

The Islamic Republic, like the Pahlavi regime before it, has always viewed the Kurdish people through a security lens. The suppression of the Kurds has become one of the fundamental pillars of its state policy. The very existence of the Kurdistan Region’s political system does not pose a threat to Iran. In fact, some political parties in the Kurdistan Region — particularly the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) — maintain relations with the Islamic Republic. These ties have been widely criticised by many Kurds because they create political dependency and do not serve the interests of the Kurdish people.

The Islamic Republic justifies its attacks on the Kurdistan Region by claiming that Iranian Kurdish parties use the Region as a base to enter Iran. In reality, this is nothing more than a pretext. The regime accepts the Kurds only as long as they do not struggle for their freedom. The moment the Kurdish people speak of their rights or take action to defend them, the Islamic Republic responds with a highly securitised and violent approach. Therefore, the attacks carried out by the Islamic Republic against the Kurdish people and their freedom movement are aimed solely at preserving the regime’s domination over Kurdistan.

As PJAK, we will continue to resist the regime’s attacks against the Kurdish people and their movement for freedom.

Members of the left-wing nationalist Turkish Youth Union (TGB) shout slogans during a protest against the new solution process to be carried out with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), in Istanbul. File
| Photo Credit: AFP

Turkish police detained 282 suspects accused of ties to the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, militant group, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Tuesday (February 18, 2025), among them journalists, politicians, and academics.

The raids of the last five days came as Turkiye continues to remove elected pro-Kurdish mayors from their posts over militant ties in a crackdown coinciding with hopes for an end to a 40-year conflict between the PKK and authorities.

Jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan is expected to make a statement on such efforts, four months after an ally of President Tayyip Erdogan urged him to call on the militants to lay down their arms.

The Journalists’ Union of Turkiye condemned the detention of three journalists.

“We do not accept that they are detained through house raids instead of being summoned to the police station,” the union said in a statement on social media.

Those detained included members of the Peoples’ Democratic Congress (HDK), as well as smaller leftist parties, academics and a prominent LGBTQ rights activist.

Police carried out counter-terror raids in 51 provinces, including the capital Ankara and the largest city, Istanbul. Yerlikaya said the suspects were accused of conducting PKK propaganda, providing financing for the group, recruiting members, and joining street protests.

Police seized two AK-47 rifles among other weapons, he added.

On Saturday (February 15, 2025) Turkiye removed a pro-Kurdish DEM Party mayor from office in the eastern province of Van over terrorism-related convictions, bringing the total number of dismissed DEM mayors to eight since the 2024 elections.

The PKK, designated a terrorist organization by Turkiye and its Western allies, has waged an insurgency against the state since 1984, in a conflict that has killed more than 40,000.

Ten fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) were killed, Iraqi Kurdish authorities said Thursday, as Turkey said it launched renewed air strikes on northern Iraq.

Turkey has intensified its cross-border air raids against Kurdish targets in northeastern Syria and northern Iraq in retaliation for an October 1 suicide bombing in Ankara which injured two policemen.

That attack was claimed by a branch of the outlawed PKK, which has waged a decades-long insurgency against Turkey and is considered a “terrorist” group by Ankara and its Western allies.

“Nine PKK fighters were killed in a series of air strikes launched by Turkish warplanes and drones” in Arbil province in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, the Kurdish counter-terrorism service said in a statement.

A tenth PKK member was killed and three others wounded in “the bombing of several locations” belonging to the group in Dohuk province, it added.

Turkey’s defence ministry on Thursday confirmed conducting air strikes on targets in five areas of northern Iraq, saying “many terrorists were neutralised”.

“A total of 19 targets including caves, shelters and depots used by terrorists.. were successfully destroyed and many terrorists were neutralised,” it said of the strikes which were carried out on Wednesday.

The Turkish military rarely comments on its operations in Iraq but it frequently carries out ground and air offensives against the PKK and its positions in northern Iraq.

Earlier this month, Turkey’s parliament extended the military’s authorisation to launch cross-border operations in Syria and Iraq by two more years.

Such operations were first approved in 2013 to support the international campaign against the Islamic State group, and have since been renewed annually.

Over the past 25 years, Turkey has installed dozens of military bases in Iraqi Kurdistan to fight against the PKK, which also has outposts there.

The Iraqi federal government in Baghdad and Kurdish authorities in Arbil have for years been accused of turning a blind eye to the Turkish bombardments to preserve their strategic alliance with Ankara, a key trading partner, despite statements protesting violations of Iraqi sovereignty and harm to civilians.

In summer 2022, nine people died when artillery shells hit a recreational park in the Iraqi Kurdish border village of Parakh, with most of those killed holidaymakers from southern Iraq.

Baghdad blamed Turkey for the strike but Ankara denied responsibility and pointed the finger at the PKK.

In late July, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani’s office announced that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would visit Iraq but so far, no date has been set.

The premises of an airfield used by Iraqi Kurdish forces is pictured in Arbat, near Sulaymaniyah in Iraq’s Kurdistan, after three members of a Kurdish anti-terrorist unit were killed in a drone strike that hit the airfield.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Six people were killed on Monday, September 18, 2023, in a drone strike on the small military airport of Arbid in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, a local official and a security source told Reuters.

Iraqi Kurdish security forces sealed off the area, according to two security sources.

Arbid is a small airport used for helicopters located 50 km to the east of the city of Sulaimaniya in the northeast of the country.

Two members of the Kurdish security forces were wounded in the attack and were rushed to a military hospital in Sulaimaniya under tight security, said the police source.

Police said the identities of the deceased were still unknown.

One security source said initial information suggested a Turkish drone was used in the attack against a suspected Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) target.

Turkey regularly carries out air strikes on PKK militants in northern Iraq and has dozens of outposts in Iraqi territory. The PKK took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984.

Bafel Talabani, President of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), one of the dominant Kurdish parties in northern Iraq, confirmed the drone strike but said the six dead and wounded were members of the Iraqi Kurdish counter-terrorism force.

“We strongly condemn the terrorist attack on the Agricultural Airport of Arbid in Sulaimaniya, which resulted in the martyrdom and injury of six heroic Peshmerga …,” he said in a statement.

Iraqi Kurdistan’s internal security forces, Asayish, said in a statement the counter-terrorism force was attacked and three members were killed during a training mission inside the “agricultural airport”.

Iraqi Kurdistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani condemned the drone attack and demanded the intervention of the federal government authorities to “prevent these attacks from recurring”.

Two Iraqi army intelligence officers said Baghdad will send a joint security team to Sulaimaniya to investigate the strike.