Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan

Komala (meaning 'association' in Kurdish) was founded in 1969 by Kurdish student leaders and intellectuals in Tehran. Initially Maoist in orientation, it operated underground until the 1979 revolution, after which it became a major force in the Kurdish resistance to the Islamic Republic. Komala fought alongside the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan against the central government's military campaigns in Kurdistan. In 1983, Komala merged with several other leftist groups to form the Communist Party of Iran, serving as its Kurdish branch. In 2000, the faction led by Abdullah Mohtadi split from the CPI and reconstituted itself as the independent Komala Party, gradually evolving from Marxism toward social democracy. The organization advocates Kurdish self-determination and federalism in Iran.