Middle East Research and Information Project

Critical Coverage of the Middle East Since 1971

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Securitizing Citizenship and Politicizing Security in Iraqi Kurdistan
Female Kurdish Peshmerga participate in their graduation ceremony at a police academy in Zakho district of the Dohuk Governorate in Iraqi Kurdistan, 2016. Ari Jalal/Reuters
MER Article

Securitizing Citizenship and Politicizing Security in Iraqi Kurdistan

It was 8 am on a scorching hot summer day. I was sitting inside a public notary office in a Kurdish border town, two kilometers away from the no-fly zone declared by the US-led coalition in 1991, and which separated the Kurdish autonomous zone from the rest of
Kerem Can Uşşaklı • 16 min read
The Gains and Risks of Kurdish Civic Activism in Iran
A Kurdish protestor holds a sign that says, “Kurdistan’s share of development is death,” referring to the Iranian president’s promises for economic development. Mariwan, Iran, October 6, 2016. Courtesy Kurdistan 24.
MER Article

The Gains and Risks of Kurdish Civic Activism in Iran

On July 13, 2020, two young Kurdish men, Diako Rasoulzadeh and Saber Sheikh-Abdollah, were executed by the Iranian government on fabricated charges of involvement in bombing a military parade in Mahabad in 2010. They were also members of Komala, a banned Kurdish political party. Amnesty International notes that, “There
Allan Hassaniyan • 10 min read
The New Wave of Politics in the Struggle for Self-Determination in Rojhelat
An Iranian Sunni Kurd couple sit near their relatives at a recreational area in Marivan, Kurdistan province, 2011. Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters
MER Article

The New Wave of Politics in the Struggle for Self-Determination in Rojhelat

In an attempt to decolonize Kurdistan, at least discursively, Kurds refer to the Kurdish region of Iran as Rojhelat, instead of Iranian Kurdistan. Rojhelat, meaning “the place where the sun rises,” refers to the eastern portion of Kurdistan—the Kurdish homeland that stretches across four countries. This terminology has been
Sardar Saadi • 14 min read
The Kurdish Movement’s Disparate Goals and the Collapse of the Peace Process with Turkey
Residents look at buildings damaged during clashes between Turkish security forces and Kurdish fighters and at neighborhoods razed by the government in Sur, Diyarbakir. May 2016. Sertac Kayar/Reuters
MER Article

The Kurdish Movement’s Disparate Goals and the Collapse of the Peace Process with Turkey

The Kurdish movement in Turkey has three stated objectives: to achieve a resolution of the Kurdish issue, to democratize Turkey and to establish a decentralized political system formulated as Democratic Confederalism by Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).[1] Although the PKK is at the
Guney Yildiz • 15 min read