Kurdish-Azeri Relations and the Future of Iran
Iranian Kurdish opposition parties are making a political overture to Azeris in Iran, calling for solidarity among the country’s “oppressed nations” and pro-democracy forces as part of a future democratic transition while also aiming to ease the concerns of neighboring Turkey and Azerbaijan.
According to the Turkish-government-linked Daily Sabah, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan voiced concerns over the current conflict in a phone call with President Donald Trump earlier this month, after there were reports in Western media that Israel and the United States were planning to support Iranian Kurds. On March 29, Daily Sabah claimed that the Turkish government had thwarted an Israeli and U.S. plan to use Kurds in a ground offensive against Iran.
Azeris are well represented within Iran’s political system, with several senior figures of Azeri background, including the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. There have been signs of discontent with the government among Azeris, and in 2006 protests erupted after an Iranian state newspaper depicted a cockroach speaking Azeri.
Ibrahim Kalin, director of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization, on Sunday warned that the Iran war could ignite “a great fire of discord” among Turks, Kurds, Arabs, and Persians, and lead to prolonged regional conflict.
However, Amanj Zebaii, the Erbil representative of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), said that the Kurds do not have any conflict with the Shia Azeris, underlining that there needs to be a special committee established to find a solution for mixed Azeri-Kurdish towns, such as Urmia, Naqadeh, and Salmas.
“We have to find a solution for this problem at the negotiation table,” he said. “We won’t solve it through fighting each other.”
In a statement in Turkish on March 14, the Coalition of Political Forces of Iranian Kurdistan—formed in late February—appealed directly to the Azeri Turkish population, emphasizing the long history of Kurdish-Azeri coexistence in mixed regions. The parties proposed principles such as joint administration, equal national rights, and democratic governance in areas where the two communities live together.
The Democratic Party of Azerbaijan (Iran) issued a statement on March 8 welcoming the formation of an alliance among six Kurdish political parties established on February 22.
“When, in a place like Urmia, we build our shared homeland together and side by side, our free future will belong to us. No force, no government, and no side that does not wish us well can take away that opportunity and that free future from us,” Rivar Abdanan, a member of the leadership council of the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), said in a statement on March 18.
“Spreading hatred and division takes away our chance for freedom, but respecting each other’s identity, mutual acceptance, and unity give us great and historic opportunities to build our shared homeland shoulder to shoulder and to become the managers and builders of our own future.”
According to Dr. David Romano, Thomas G. Strong Professor of Middle East Politics at Missouri State University, “Azeris are the largest ethnic group after Persians in Iran, while Kurds are the third-largest group.
“The regime has long pursued a divide and rule strategy against the Kurds and Azeris, stoking tensions between them. It thus makes very good sense for Kurdish opposition parties to reach out to Azeris. Cooperation between them could claim to represent some 35% of Iranians, and also help weaken any pretext neighboring Turkey may try to use to justify intervention should the regime fall.”
In his 1966 book on Kurds, Iran’s former Chief of Staff Hasan Arfa wrote that there was racial animosity among Sunni Kurds toward Shia Turkic-speaking Azeris [1]. Not all Kurds in Iran are Sunni; notably, Kermanshah is predominantly inhabited by Shia Kurds.
Tensions between Azeris and Kurds continues to be a regional flashpoint. In March 2025, anti-Kurdish slogans were chanted by Azeri protestors in Urmia on March 22, following a massive Kurdish Newroz celebration in the town on March 21.
The protestors reportedly also referred to the controversial cleric Gholamreza Hassani, who was behind a 1979 massacre of Kurds in the village of Qarna after the fall of the Shah.
“There were no problems [between Kurds and the Azeris] in 1946; the problem was ignited in 1979-80 by the Islamic Republic in Naqadeh,” Baba Sheikh Hosseini, the Secretary-General of the Khabat Organization of Iranian Kurdistan, told 21 Rays. “In 1946 and during the Kurdistan Republic, the Kurds and the Azeris were united, and they were working together.
“Azeri people also live in cities like Urmia and Naqadeh. In places like that, the Kurds and the Azeris will jointly manage their affairs. The Kurds will not dominate the scene and will not undermine the Azeris,” he added.
In 1946, the Soviets backed the establishment of the Kurdistan Republic in Mahabad and the Azerbaijan People’s Government in northwestern Iran [2]. Both collapsed after the Soviet army withdrew in May 1946.
During this short-lived Azeri and Kurdish rule, there were also territorial disputes between the two over mixed Kurdish-Azeri towns, leading to a Soviet-imposed Treaty of Friendship and Alliance signed on April 23, 1946, in which it was agreed that in areas of Azerbaijan where Kurds outnumbered Azeris, Kurds would be appointed to government departments, and vice versa, while the Government of Azerbaijan agreed to take steps to contribute to the cultural and linguistic progress of the Kurds living in its territory [3]. It seems the Kurdish parties want to return to a model similar to the one that existed in 1946. Additionally, both Azeri and Kurdish representatives participated in the Iran Freedom Congress that took place on March 28-29.
“The two shall govern together with an understanding; for example, the mayor could be a Kurd, and the governor could be an Azeri. These are our intentions; we will ensure that no people, no nation would be oppressed in Iran. In the meantime, we will not accept oppression,” Hosseini added.
Yashar Hakakpour, Director of the Association for the Defense of Azerbaijani Political Prisoners in Iran (ADAPP), told 21 Rays that with the rise of Persian nationalism, Iran’s ethnic minorities are increasingly feeling threatened. “In response, Azeris and Kurds—two major marginalized groups in Iran—are drawing closer in their pursuit of self-governance and democratic rights.
“Despite tensions over a few disputed cities, in my interview with a Kurdish channel I emphasized that the shared interests of Kurds and Azeris far outweigh their disagreements, and that the stakes are too high to allow division. I suggested that these disputes be set aside until regional governments in Azerbaijan and Kurdistan are established, after which such issues can be addressed through formal institutions. I also urge activists in both Azeri and Kurdish regions to remain vigilant and avoid being drawn into ethnic conflict.”
Until now, Ankara has opposed the conflict that began on February 28 and the potential overthrow of the Islamic Republic, fearing a repeat of the Syrian Civil War, with an influx of refugees and a new Kurdish entity emerging on its border. Turkey has been actively working to end the conflict and supports the proposed talks between the United States and Iran in Pakistan.
According to Hakakpour, “the government of Azerbaijan opposes any attempt by external actors to pit Azeri Turks and Kurds in Iran against each other in an ethnic conflict.”
At the same time, he said Turkey considers the emergence of any form of Kurdish entity along its borders a red line. “Turkey is also wary of an Azeri ethnic movement in Iran,” he said. “Ankara fears that a strong Azeri ethnic movement there could destabilize the country. In their view, the rise of a viable Azeri movement would not only undermine Iran’s stability, but also create space for other ethnic-based mobilizations, including a stronger Kurdish movement.
“The important fact is that we want to resolve our issue within the borders of Iran. Once we [Kurds and Azeris] work together within Iran’s borders, we should not have problems.”
So far, there have been no signs of shifts on the ground, as the military campaign by Israel and the United States remains limited to air operations. Despite this, the Kurdish opposition coalition is preparing for possible future developments.
Sources:
[1] Hassan Arfa, The Kurds: An Historical and Political Study (London: Oxford University Press, 1966. Pp. xi, 178. 3.50.) - Volume 61 Issue 3, p. 4
[2] William Eagleton Jr, The Kurdish republic of 1946. (Middle Eastern Monographs, 5.), London, etc.: Oxford University Press for the Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1963., p. 63.
[3] Eagleton Jr, p. 82
[4] Van Bruinessen, Martin 2023, 'Allan Hassaniyan, Kurdish Politics in Iran : Crossborder Interactions and Mobilisation since 1947', Kurdish Studies Journal, vol. 1, no. 1-2, pp. 352-354.
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