Iran’s Kurdish parties condemn Koya attack, call for general strike
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Five Iranian Kurdish parties issued a joint statement on Sunday condemning Tehran’s missile strike on Koya, which killed and injured several political leaders and refugees on Saturday. They called for a general strike in Rojhelat (Eastern Kurdistan).
“The criminal regime of the Islamic Republic added a new black page of its history of crimes and barbarism against the Kurdish nation,” read the statement by the Coordination Center of Rojhelat, an umbrella group which includes the KDP-I, PDKI, Komala and other Iranian Kurdish parties.
The centre was formed at the beginning of the year during widespread anti-government protests across Iran so that Kurdish parties could better coordinate their opposition.
The center denounced the attack “strongly, expressing its sympathies to the families of those killed”.
“The terror, aggression, and crimes of the Islamic Republic of Iran against the Kurdish nation and its freedom-loving children will continue and increase if the people of Rojhelat Kurdistan and the political parties, through an appropriate response, don’t give a devastating response to this regime,” the statement added.
The parties called on Rojhelat Kurds to stage a general strike on Monday, September 10, “to express their dissatisfaction with the newest crimes of the Islamic Republic of Iran”.
This would show “an honorable performance of dissatisfaction” with the “bloodthirsty anti-Kurd regime”, the statement added.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) fired seven surface-to-surface missiles on Saturday, striking the Kurdistan Region refugee camps and headquarters of two Iranian-Kurdish parties, the PDKI and the KDP-I, while they were holding leadership meetings.
Seventeen people died, including several political leaders, and 46 were injured in the attack, according to figures from the health department. Nine have been admitted into hospitals in Erbil, 16 in Sulaimani, and the others are being treated in Koya.
Among the wounded are PDKI secretary general Mustafa Mawludi and his predecessor Khalid Azizi. Both are in non-critical condition, according to the health department.
“The criminal regime of the Islamic Republic added a new black page of its history of crimes and barbarism against the Kurdish nation,” read the statement by the Coordination Center of Rojhelat, an umbrella group which includes the KDP-I, PDKI, Komala and other Iranian Kurdish parties.
The centre was formed at the beginning of the year during widespread anti-government protests across Iran so that Kurdish parties could better coordinate their opposition.
The center denounced the attack “strongly, expressing its sympathies to the families of those killed”.
“The terror, aggression, and crimes of the Islamic Republic of Iran against the Kurdish nation and its freedom-loving children will continue and increase if the people of Rojhelat Kurdistan and the political parties, through an appropriate response, don’t give a devastating response to this regime,” the statement added.
The parties called on Rojhelat Kurds to stage a general strike on Monday, September 10, “to express their dissatisfaction with the newest crimes of the Islamic Republic of Iran”.
This would show “an honorable performance of dissatisfaction” with the “bloodthirsty anti-Kurd regime”, the statement added.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) fired seven surface-to-surface missiles on Saturday, striking the Kurdistan Region refugee camps and headquarters of two Iranian-Kurdish parties, the PDKI and the KDP-I, while they were holding leadership meetings.
Seventeen people died, including several political leaders, and 46 were injured in the attack, according to figures from the health department. Nine have been admitted into hospitals in Erbil, 16 in Sulaimani, and the others are being treated in Koya.
Among the wounded are PDKI secretary general Mustafa Mawludi and his predecessor Khalid Azizi. Both are in non-critical condition, according to the health department.
The IRGC said on Sunday it launched the missiles after “terrorist groups associated with the world’s arrogant powers” ignored warnings from Erbil and Tehran to move their bases from the border region and continued to carry out attacks on Iranian forces.