Leader Salaheddine Bahaaeddin Headquarters Erbil Political position Right-wing | Founded 1994 (1994) Ideology Islamic democracy International affiliation Muslim Brotherhood | |
Kurdistan Islamic Union (Central Kurdish: ه كگرتووى ئيسلامي كوردستان, Yekgirtûy islâmî Kurdistân; Arabic: الاتحاد الاسلامي الكوردستاني, al-Ittiḥād al-islāmī al-kūrdistānī), colloquially referred to as Yekgirtû, is an Islamist party in Iraqi Kurdistan is in principle independent and is directly responsible for policy matters.
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Events
Salaheddine Bahaaeddin was elected Secretary General at its 1st general conference in 1994. Other leaders include Hadi Ali, the second man of the party after secretary general. Ali was elected as the Director of the party's Political Bureau after their fifth convention in 2008. This Council includes all the leaders of the party and they are about 40-50 people. ‘Ali Muhammad Ahmad, Dendaar Najmen al-Doski, and Umar ‘Abd al-Aziz. It is chiefly active among students (reportedly winning nearly 40% of the vote in Dahuk University student elections), but also has an adult political base, particularly in Arbil and enjoys good relations with both the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Democratic Party.
During the anticipation of the Iraqi legislative election, December 2005, the Kurdistan Islamic Union Office was the target of a 3,000- to 5,000-civilian protest mostly by members of Kurdistan Democratic Party organizations, where the phrase "Long Live 730" was written on the walls. 730 is the "numerical ballot designation for the political alliance led by Iraq's two largest Kurdish parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan."
The riots were in response from the KIU pulling out from the Democratic Patriotic Alliance of Kurdistan and it resulted in killing 4 members of KIU,one of them was a member in KIU leadership, this happened after their offices in Duhok, Zakho and other several areas been exposed to shooting from policemen and security-men who supported the protesters instead of protecting KIU offices.. KIU professes non-violence, and supports the Islamic Kurdish League, which provides services to the poor. Represented on the Iraqi Governing Council.
In November 2005, this KIU decided to run separate from the other Kurdish groups in the December 15, 2005 election for the Iraqi Council of Representatives (parliament). In the January 2005 elections,KIU was part of a broad coalition of Kurdistan parties. This time it is running independently with an agenda of "reform and services.". It declared that pluraslim in Kurdistan is not practised, and that voters should be given a choice. On the Kurdish national causes, the KIU says it will be defending the rights and the constitutional achievements of the Kurds.
The party won in the December 2005 elections 1.3% and 5 out of 275 seats.
In 2015, the party joined the Muslim Brotherhood.
In 2016, the party elected Salaheddine Bahaaeddin again, succeeding Mohammed Faraj as the party's Secretary-General.
December 2011 violence
On December 2, after Friday prayers, unknown persons rampaged through the city of Zakho attacking liquor stores, beauty salons, a Chinese massage parlor, and several hotels. The sale of alcohol in Iraq is often the preserve of Christians and Yezidis, who were disproportionate victims of the arson attacks. The violence quickly spread throughout the Bahdinan area of Iraqi Kurdistan, to nearby Dohuk, and eventually as far as way as the south-eastern Sorani city of Sulaymaniyah. At least 30 people were injured. Government spokesmen for the Kurdistan Democratic Party blamed the violence on a cleric associated with the Kurdistan Islamic Union. But KIU and cleric himself has refuted these allegations. The KIU has a strong support base in the region - although not as strong as the KDP. Subsequent to the attacks, the KDP supporters set fire to more than four KIU political and media offices throughout the Bahdinan area of Kurdistan Region.