Kurds in Mahabad and other Kurdish-majority cities in the Kurdish region of Iran have been holding demonstrations over the past week. As the Mahabad protestors have taken to the streets, they are using social media as a way to communicate their conflict with the rest of the world:
We as young people, as Kurds, we have to put the news on Twitter, Facebook and Skype. We tell the truth for our people.
~Anonymous Syrian Kurd during a Skype interview with the IB Times
The protest started as a result of a May 4th incident involving a women’s suicide after a rape attempt by an Iranian intelligence officer. In the days following the incident, protests turned violent as Iranian Kurdish political leaders called for an independent Kurdistan and democracy in Iran.
Nearly 700 protesters have been arrested and detained for questioning following several bombings of police vehicles. The International Business Times has called the violent protest “one of the biggest Kurdish uprisings against the Iranian regime in years.”
Mahabad Protests on Social Media
While the Iranian regime has been doing all it can to keep the protests out of the media, various social media accounts have been created to provide accurate information from the ground in Iran.
The following are a handful of tweets covering the Mahabad protests in Iran, and the response from around the world:
Kurd surfers: #Iran‘s regime cuts off water,electricity,telephones & Internet in #Mahabad; Shops have been closed down pic.twitter.com/FUIPuW01PY
— Shiapulse (@shiapulse) May 10, 2015
Women in Sanandaj and Isfahan protest the death of Farinaz Khosravani & support uprising by ppl of #Mahabad #Iran pic.twitter.com/QBtVdVt2zU
— Hossein Abedini (@HoAbedini) May 13, 2015
Kurdish women demonstrate in #Iran‘s Sardasht: “#Mahabad is not alone”, “We are all Farinaz”, “Women, life, freedom” pic.twitter.com/f4aoIsvxSo — Shiapulse (@shiapulse) May 10, 2015
Protests in #Stockholm in solidarity with #Rojhelat #TwitterKurds #Farinaz #Mahabad #Kurdistan pic.twitter.com/gnrajsj7Ky
— Ali Abdelzadeh (@aliabdelzadeh) May 14, 2015
Eggs thrown/Iranian flag was burnt @ demo of nearly 100 kurds infront f Iran’s embassy #london #mahabad #TwitterKurds pic.twitter.com/CnUWEuLaJ6
— Sarhang Hars (@sarhangg) May 10, 2015
[Read more at the International Business Times]
