The 28th of Gelawej 1358 in the Solar Hijri calendar is not merely a date in the historical memory of the Kurdish nation; it marks the beginning of one of the bloodiest periods in the contemporary history of Kurdistan.
On that day, Khomeini, the leader of the Iranians, issued a direct order instructing the army, the gendarmerie, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran to move toward Kurdistan with all military equipment, including artillery and tanks.
This order was not the beginning of a limited military operation or action. From its earliest months, the newly established regime of the Islamic Republic responded to the political and national demands of the Kurdish nation with violence, defining the demands for freedom, autonomy, equality and the right to self-determination as “separatism,” “moharebeh” and hostility toward God and Islam.
Following this order and fatwa, the cities and villages of Kurdistan were targeted one after another. Paveh, Mariwan, Sanandaj, Saqqez, Mahabad, Sardasht and other areas of Kurdistan witnessed large-scale military deployments, military sieges, artillery bombardment, mass arrests, field executions and summary shootings.
Sadegh Khalkhali was sent to Kurdistan with Khomeini’s direct support. Courts were established in which there were no defence lawyers, no judicial justice, and no right to defence or appeal. The fate of individuals was decided within a matter of minutes, and death sentences were carried out immediately.
Among the victims were women and men, political and civil activists, doctors, teachers, workers, young people and even children. Many were sent to the gallows solely because they were Kurdish, defended the rights of their nation, or helped the wounded.
The executions at Sanandaj airport, the shooting of prisoners in Saqqez and Mariwan, and the massacres of unarmed civilians in the villages of Qarna, Qalatan, Inderqash and elsewhere were part of a planned policy; a policy aimed at breaking the will of the Kurdish nation, destroying political and civil organisations, reimposing military rule over Kurdistan and occupying this land.
In Qarna and other villages of Kurdistan occupied by Iran, women, children, elderly men, young people and defenceless civilians were killed in their homes and in village streets. These massacres did not take place as part of a military battle, but were carried out as collective punishment against the Kurdish nation. To this day, none of the principal commanders and perpetrators of these crimes have faced even the slightest independent and fair investigation; instead, the regime awarded them medals of honour and distinction.
The Independence Party of Kurdistan considers Khomeini’s order and the operations and actions that followed it to be part of a state genocide against the Kurdish nation.
Targeting a nation because of its national identity, land, language, political organisation and demand for the right to self-determination is not merely a political or military dispute.
These crimes were committed with the aim of creating fear, eliminating national resistance, erasing the political existence of the Kurdish nation, and forcing Kurdish society and the Kurdish nation into submission.
The execution of children, the massacre of civilians, attacks on villages and cities, and the use of religious concepts to legitimise killing were clear elements of this genocidal policy.
From the beginning of its existence, the Islamic Republic demonstrated that it was unwilling to recognise the Kurdish nation as a nation possessing political, national and historical rights. Instead of dialogue and recognition of the right to self-determination, this government chose military occupation, repression, execution, imprisonment and assassination.
The policy that began in Gelawej 1358 did not end that same year. The execution of Kurdish political prisoners, the assassination of Kurdish leaders and activists inside and outside the country, the militarisation of Kurdistan, economic destruction, suppression of the Kurdish language and culture, and the massacre of protesters are continuations of the same policy whose foundations were laid by Khomeini’s jihad fatwa.
The Iranian regime has attempted to distort these crimes or define them within the framework of “confronting the counter-revolution.” However, no political or religious label can justify the massacre of unarmed civilians, the execution of children, trials lasting only a few minutes, or attacks on the cities and villages of a nation.
On the anniversary of these crimes, the Independence Party of Kurdistan stresses the necessity of establishing an independent international commission to uncover the truth and investigate the orders that were issued, the executions, the massacres of villages, and the military operations carried out by the Islamic Republic in Kurdistan.
We call on the United Nations, international human rights institutions and the democratic governments of the world to investigate the crimes of the Islamic Republic against the Kurdish nation within the framework of genocide and crimes against humanity.
The names and life stories of all victims must be documented. Mass burial sites and the graves of those who lost their lives must be protected. The testimonies of survivors must be collected, and the military, security and judicial archives of the Islamic Republic concerning these crimes must be made available to investigations and independent researchers.
The commanders and perpetrators of these massacres, regardless of their rank, position or place of residence, must be held accountable. Crimes against humanity and genocide are not erased by the passage of time, and criminal responsibility does not disappear with the death of perpetrators and leaders or with changes in their positions.
We call on all parties, organisations, institutions and personalities of Kurdistan to cooperate in preparing a joint, documented case file suitable for submission to international institutions.
The Kurdish nation has neither forgotten Khomeini’s jihad order nor will it forget the victims of Paveh, Sanandaj, Mariwan, Saqqez, Mahabad, Sardasht, Qarna and the other cities and villages of Kurdistan.
The Independence Party of Kurdistan once again emphasises that the right to self-determination, independence and political sovereignty of the Kurdish nation is a natural, historical and non-negotiable right. No government, army, fatwa or court can declare a nation criminal because it seeks freedom and sovereignty over its own land.
May the memory of all those who lost their lives as victims of the genocide and occupation of Kurdistan be honoured and held high.
We neither forget, nor forgive, nor abandon our pursuit of justice.
Independence Party of Kurdistan
26 Gelawej 2726, Kurdish Calendar
17 August 2026
