Kurdish Policy Analysis

By Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj Sulaimani, Iraqi Kurdistan — 22 May 2026 Founder of the PKK, Öcalan’s political evolution—from revolutionary insurgency to imprisoned theorist—continues to shape Kurdish movements across Turkey, Syria, and beyond. Abdullah Öcalan, founder of the PKK, transformed Kurdish politics through armed struggle and later developed democratic confederalism during imprisonment, influencing Kurdish movements across the Middle East. From Ankara classrooms to a prison island in the Sea of Marmara—Abdullah Öcalan reshaped Kurdish politics twice: first through armed struggle, then through a new political theory born in isolation. Few leaders redefine their movement from behind bars.  ABDULLAH ÖCALAN AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE KURDISH POLITICAL IMAGINARY Abdullah Öcalan (b. 1949) is one of the most influential and controversial figures in modern Kurdish political history. As the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) , his life refl...

Between admiration and hostility, scholarship and activism: how Farooq Rafiq’s passing exposed a fragmented Kurdish intellectual landscape shaped by ideology, silence, and factional memory. Farooq Rafiq (1959–2026): Death, Intellectual Legacy, and the Fragmentation of Kurdish Public Thought Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj , Sulaimani, Iraq, April 29, 2026 ---   Farooq Rafiq, Kurdish writer, philosopher, critic, and editor-in-chief of the journal Awez , passed away on Tuesday at his home due to heart-related complications. Born in Sulaymaniyah in 1959, he held a PhD in philosophy from a Canadian university and spent several years in Canada before returning to the Kurdistan Region. His death immediately triggered not a unified moment of mourning, but a fragmented and often hostile debate about his intellectual identity. In doing so, it exposed one of the most sensitive features of Kurdish public life: the absence of a shared framework for evaluating intellectual authority. An Intellectual Life...

  Tehran’s fusion of ideology, state power, and revolutionary strategy created a model that outlasted rival Islamist movements By Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj | Kurdish Policy Analysis | April 23, 2026 For decades, political Islam has risen and fallen across the Middle East—from Egypt to Syria to Afghanistan. Yet one system has endured: the Islamic Republic of Iran. The question is not simply why Iran succeeded—but why others failed . The Core Problem: Power vs. Ideology Most Islamic movements historically faced a fundamental dilemma: Strong religious ideology , but weak state-building capacity Or political ambition without a coherent ideological foundation Iran’s revolution solved this by fusing both. Following the 1979 revolution led by Ruhollah Khomeini , the regime established a system where religious authority became institutionalized political power . The doctrine of velayat-e faqih (rule of the jurist) ensured that ideology was not separate from the state—but embedded within...