Mustafa Hijri

Mustafa Hijri (Kurdish: Mistefa Hicrî, (born 1945) is the current General Secretary of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI) and is based in Northern Iraq.^[1][2]

Political life

Born in 1945 in Naghadeh in the West Azarbaijan Province of Iran, Hijri graduated from the Teachers' College of Agriculture in Urumieh in 1963 and took up a post as a secondary school teacher in Saqqez. In 1970, he started studying Persian literature at Tehran University, where he obtained a Bachelor's Degree. On returning to his home town, he re-started teaching at the secondary schools and a college here. Playing a considerable role in the mass demonstrations held in 1978 against the Shah's regime, he was nominated as a candidate for parliamentary elections in the townships of Naghadeh and Oshnavieh, where he won 90% of the votes, but the results, as in any electoral regions of Kurdistan, were announced null and void by the newly-established Islamic Republic of Iran.

Participating in the 4th Congress of the PDKI in 1979, he was elected as a member of the Central Committee, and a few months later, chosen as a member of the Political Bureau, holding steadily on his heavy task ever since Dr. Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou was assassinated on July 13, 1989. Following the death of Dr.Ghassemlou, and on late Dr. Sadegh Sharafkandi’s appointment’s as General Secretary, Hijri was once more chosen to the membership of the Political Bureau, and Vice-General Secretary.

Dr. Sharafkandi having been killed on Sept. 17, 1992, Hijri was appointed as General Secretary,^[3] continuing his duty up till 1995, when the 10th Congress of the Party was convened, whereupon successfully carrying out his duties. After the above-mentioned date till the 12th Congress of the party in December 2000, he was chosen as a member of Political Bureau and elected afterwards as the Vice-General Secretary.

Since the 12th Congress up to the 13th Congress he unremittingly carried out his duties as a member of Political Bureau. He promotes federalism as a model for governance and power sharing in Iran. In his view, federalism must be based on geography and ethnicity, and this helps in resolving grievances of different ethnic groups in Iran. In addition, he advocates peaceful coexistence between Kurds and Azeri people in northwestern Iran.^[4] He was reelected to the position of General Secretary in the 14th Congress of PDKI held in September 2008.^[5]

See also

• Mahabad Republic
• Qazi Muhammad
• Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou
• Sadeq Sharafkandi
• Simko

References

1. ^ APS Diplomat Operations in Oil Diplomacy (June 12, 2006). "Iranian Exiles Condemn US Overtures". (subscription required)
2. ^ Bozarslan, Hamit (2009). Conflit kurde: le brasier oublié du Moyen-Orient. Autrement, p. 163. ISBN 2746712733 (French)
3. ^ Guibernau, Montserrat; John Rex (2010). The Ethnicity Reader: Nationalism, Multiculturalism and Migration. Polity. p. 207. ISBN 9780745647029. 
4. ^ UNPO (June 2010). Member Persective: Mustafa Hijri
5. ^ PDKI. Biography of Mustafa Hijri

Persondata
Name	Hijri, Mustafa
Alternative names
Short description	General Secretary of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan
Date of birth	1945
Place of birth	Naghadeh, West Azarbaijan Province, Iran
Date of death
Place of death