Iranian Protesters Call for ‘Referendum’

High school students removing their hijabs in Tehran (Twitter)
High school students removing their hijabs in Tehran (Twitter)
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Iranian Protesters Call for ‘Referendum’

High school students removing their hijabs in Tehran (Twitter)
High school students removing their hijabs in Tehran (Twitter)

University students in Iran are calling for a “referendum” at anti-regime rallies that have been sweeping the nation for the 18th day in a row. Schoolchildren joined these demonstrations and teachers and merchants have shown solidarity by going on strike in some provinces.

“Referendum…Referendum… This is the people's motto!” chanted demonstrators at the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad.

They also used slogans condemning the riot police’s raiding of the Sharif University of Technology in Tehran.

Universities across Iran are witnessing anti-government protests that had erupted following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran’s morality police.

Despite authorities cracking down on protesters, demonstrations spilled to other universities in Tehran, Urima, Mashhad and Ardabil. Students continued to organize sit-ins on Tuesday.

Education Ministry efforts failed in quelling student masses who were not only demonstrating against the oppressive regime but were also urging authorities to release their fellow protesters arrested over the last two weeks.

Although protests initially broke out against Iran’s compulsory hijab law, they spiraled into full-blown anti-regime demonstrations.

“We don’t want the Islamic Republic,” chanted demonstrators in Mashhad on Monday evening.

“The killing of protesters in Iran, especially in Zahedan, amounts to crimes against humanity. The international community has a duty to investigate this crime and prevent further crimes from being committed by the Islamic Republic,” said Iran Human Rights Director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, at least 154 people have been killed in the nationwide protests. At least nine are believed to have been under 18 years of age.

Most killings have been reported in Sistan and Baluchistan, Mazandaran, Gilan and West Azerbaijan, said the organization.

The number of confirmed deaths in Zahedan's bloody Friday has also risen to at least 63.



Jailed PKK Leader Ocalan Says Armed Struggle with Türkiye Over

FILE PHOTO: A woman holds a poster of jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan during a spring festival of Newroz celebration in Diyarbakir, southeastern Türkiye, March 21, 2025. REUTERS/Sertac Kayar/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A woman holds a poster of jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan during a spring festival of Newroz celebration in Diyarbakir, southeastern Türkiye, March 21, 2025. REUTERS/Sertac Kayar/File Photo
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Jailed PKK Leader Ocalan Says Armed Struggle with Türkiye Over

FILE PHOTO: A woman holds a poster of jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan during a spring festival of Newroz celebration in Diyarbakir, southeastern Türkiye, March 21, 2025. REUTERS/Sertac Kayar/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A woman holds a poster of jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan during a spring festival of Newroz celebration in Diyarbakir, southeastern Türkiye, March 21, 2025. REUTERS/Sertac Kayar/File Photo

Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), appeared in a rare online video on Wednesday to declare the group's armed struggle against Türkiye over and called for a full transition to democratic politics.

In the recording, dated June and released by Firat News Agency, which is close to the PKK, Ocalan urged Türkiye's parliament to set up a commission to oversee disarmament and manage a broader peace process.

"The phase of armed struggle has ended. This is not a loss, but a historic gain," he said. "The armed struggle stage must now be voluntarily replaced by a phase of democratic politics and law."

The PKK, which has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state for four decades and is designated a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union, decided in May to disband after an initial written appeal from Ocalan in February.

Since the PKK launched its insurgency in 1984 – originally with the aim of creating an independent Kurdish state – the conflict has killed more than 40,000 people, imposed a heavy economic burden and fueled deep social and political divisions.

The video marks a rare and potentially pivotal moment in the long-running conflict, offering what could be President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's most significant opportunity yet to seal a political settlement to the Kurdish issue, should his government choose to respond, Reuters reported.

It also comes before PKK militants begin handing over their weapons in groups in northern Iraq's Sulaymaniyah on Friday, in a major step in the process.

Seated in a beige polo shirt with a glass of water on the table in front of him, Ocalan appeared to read from a transcript in the seven-minute video – the first public footage or audio of him since his arrest in 1999. Six other jailed PKK members sat beside him, all looking directly at the camera.

He said the PKK, which has been based in northern Iraq's mountainous regions in recent years, had ended its separatist agenda.

"The main objective has been achieved – existence has been acknowledged. What remains would be excessive repetition and a dead end," he said.

Ocalan added that Türkiye's pro-Kurdish DEM Party, the third largest in parliament and which played a key role facilitating the PKK's disarmament decision, should work alongside other political parties to advance the peace process.

The PKK and DEM expect Ankara to address Kurdish political demands, potentially before weapons in Türkiye are handed over.

Ocalan's message came a day after Ibrahim Kalin, head of Türkiye's MIT intelligence agency, visited Baghdad for high-level meetings with Iraqi officials, the agency said. Kalin had earlier visited Erbil in northern Iraq as well.

Talks focused on strengthening border security and steps toward a "terror-free Türkiye," with the Iraqi government voicing full support for joint efforts to eliminate armed groups from the region.