Over 600 projects to kick off in Iran’s Kurdish province ahead of presidential elections
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region— Iran’s government has lunched a series of investment programs in the country’s mainly Kurdish province of Western Azarbaijan involving over 600 projects worth an estimated 3,7 trillion rials (about $114 million), according to the Iranian ministry of agriculture.
President Hassan Rouhani, a pragmatic Shiite cleric largely seen as a moderate leader, will most likely need the support of voters in Kurdish regions of the country to secure a second term in office.
With an estimated population of 10 million spread mainly across western regions of the country, the Kurds are likely to play a kingmaker role in the upcoming elections.
Kurdish voters, both Shiites and Sunnis, overwhelmingly supported Rouhani in his first presidential bid in 2013. Rouhani has in the past championed broader cultural and education rights for the Kurdish population and promised to raise their participation in governing their inhabited regions.
Kurdish activists have over the past decades accused Tehran of systematic discrimination against the Kurdish population who they say are poorly represented in government institutions.
No Kurd has so far been elected governor in Urmia, the capital of Western Azerbaijan, despite its mainly Kurdish population with an estimated 1,9 million Kurds and 1,1 million Azari Turks. Of the top 17 positions in the province, 11 have been assigned to Azaris while 6 positions have gone to the Kurds. Only 11 of the 40 local mayors are Kurdish even in areas with clear Kurdish majority, according to the official statistics.
Government data also show that the predominantly Kurdish provinces of Kordestan, Kermanshahan and Western Azerbaijan have continuously been among the most impoverished regions in Iran with unemployment rates considerably higher than other provinces.
“The government has so far announced some 200 investment projects which all deal with the recovery plan of the cities in the province,” Hojati told reporters in Azarbaijan city of Salams.
Presidential elections are scheduled to be held in Iran on May 19. It will be the twelfth presidential elections in the country since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
The projects which are aimed to step up the economic revival of the highly impoverished rural regions in the province were lunched over the past week as the country prepares for the crucial presidential elections in May.
President Hassan Rouhani, a pragmatic Shiite cleric largely seen as a moderate leader, will most likely need the support of voters in Kurdish regions of the country to secure a second term in office.
With an estimated population of 10 million spread mainly across western regions of the country, the Kurds are likely to play a kingmaker role in the upcoming elections.
Kurdish voters, both Shiites and Sunnis, overwhelmingly supported Rouhani in his first presidential bid in 2013. Rouhani has in the past championed broader cultural and education rights for the Kurdish population and promised to raise their participation in governing their inhabited regions.
Kurdish activists have over the past decades accused Tehran of systematic discrimination against the Kurdish population who they say are poorly represented in government institutions.
No Kurd has so far been elected governor in Urmia, the capital of Western Azerbaijan, despite its mainly Kurdish population with an estimated 1,9 million Kurds and 1,1 million Azari Turks. Of the top 17 positions in the province, 11 have been assigned to Azaris while 6 positions have gone to the Kurds. Only 11 of the 40 local mayors are Kurdish even in areas with clear Kurdish majority, according to the official statistics.
Government data also show that the predominantly Kurdish provinces of Kordestan, Kermanshahan and Western Azerbaijan have continuously been among the most impoverished regions in Iran with unemployment rates considerably higher than other provinces.
Agriculture Minister Mahmoud Hojati visiting Azerbajian on Thursday said the government was committed to its promises and would push for larger investments in the province.
“The government has so far announced some 200 investment projects which all deal with the recovery plan of the cities in the province,” Hojati told reporters in Azarbaijan city of Salams.
Presidential elections are scheduled to be held in Iran on May 19. It will be the twelfth presidential elections in the country since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.