Speech of spokesperson of the PDKI at the SI council meeting

The following is the speech of Mr. Khalid Azizi, Spokesperson of the PDKI, at the Council Meeting of the Socialist International in Madrid, Spain, February 24-25

Honorable Mr. President!
Dear Mr. Secretary General!
Members of the presidium of the Socialist International!
Dear participants of the council meeting!

I am delighted to be here with you in this important council meeting as the representative of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan. At the same time, I would like to seize the moment and shortly present you the latest developments in the Middle east in general and Iran and the Kurdish question in particular.

The Islamic republic of Iran, from its ideological and foreign policy perspective and the that it has been the driving force behind various militia and proxy forces, has had an undeniable role in the current regional instability in the Middle East.
During the past 45 years, the Islamic Republic of Iran has used all its resources to intervene and destabilize its neighboring countries, only to push its agenda which is promoting its fundamentalist ideology ambitions in the Middle East.

Undoubtedly, if Iran had a democratic system, not only the country would not be immersed in all kinds of domestic crisis, but it would also not become the source of regional instability and a threat to the world peace.

Dear Freinds!
Even though Iranian people’s protests against the Islamic regime have been occurring on regular basis, but the protest movements during the past decade and in particular the one from the last year, which is more known as the Jina movement with its world wide known slogan (Jin, Jiyan, Azadi or Woman, Life, Freedom) did caught the international community’s attention and it was a huge blow to the Islamic regime’s legitimacy.

The main demands of this movement are achieving the political and civic freedom, acknowledging, and achieving the rights of the oppressed ethnic groups and establishing a democratic and pluralistic political governance. It is worth mentioning, that the regime’s response as always was a brutal crackdown, especially in Kurdistan as one of the main regions of the Jina movement. Hundreds of people, including minors and women were killed, several thousands were injured. During the past year, the regime has executed about 900 people, some of whom were those arrested during the Jina movement.

I am sure that you all are aware of the Kurdish people’s political movement in Iran in general and the Democratic party of Iranian Kurdistan in particular. You also know the enormous sacrifices our party has made during its struggle for democracy and the Kurdish people’s rights in Iran. We have not only lost two of our consecutive secretary generals who were assassinated by the Islamic Republic, we have also been subject to terror campaigns in neighboring counties and even in the heartland of Europe. Kurdistan has been militarized, our sympathizers and members have been brutalized, imprisoned, and executed by the regime. Our headquarters in KRG region (Northern Iraq), have been attacked by surface-to-surface missiles and drones several times resulting in casualties, including women and children.

Drear representatives of the member parties of the Socialist International!

I would like to take the opportunity and urge you not to be indifferent towards what is happening in the Middle East, and especially play a more effective role in supporting the legitimate struggle of the Kurds and other peoples to establish a stable and democratic Iran.

Therefore, on behalf of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, I appeal to our sister parties within the SI community, especially those in power, to take the changes in the Middle East seriously and support the democratic movements in the region, especially in Iran.

In conclusion, I would like to point out that our party will continue its work to create actual consensus and unity among the political parties to create a coalition to pave the way for a transition from the Islamic regime to establishment of a political system in Iran which is democratically representative to the common characteristics of the multi ethnic composition of the country and would guarantee them genuine power in governing the country. Your unequivocal support to the Iranian people’s protest movement will undoubtedly help us to achieve this goal.

Thank you for your time!