The Kurdistan Republic in Mahabad

By Dr. A. Ghassemlou (late 1970s / Edited by Gerard Chailiand)

On the 20th of August, 1941, the Soviet, British and American Allied Armies entered Iran. Reza Shah’s dictatorship was replaced with a weak Government, based in Tehran and with no control over the south of the country, which was under British and American occupation, or the north, which was occupied by the Soviet Union. Various democratic rights were granted to the growing number of political parties in the country.The Mahabad area was occupied neither by Britain or America nor by the Soviet Union. It was an area with a long tradition of Kurdish nationalism.

In September 1942, seizing an exceptionally favourable opportunity, the Kurds of Mahabad launched the first Kurdish political movement, the Komala Jiani Kurdistan = Kurdistan Resurrection Society).

The strictly nationalist Komala, led by urban middle class intellectuals, soon attracted mass support in the towns and countryside. Despite its semi-legal status, Komala had no carefully defined political programme and no solid organizational framework. A new leadership was elected in 1943. full text