Policies and Structure
The present leader of the organisation is Abdul Rahman Haji Ahmadi. According to the Washington Times, half the members of PJAK are women, many of them still in their teens. The group actively recruits female guerrillas and states that its "cruelest and fiercest fighters" are women drawn to the movement's "radical feminism".
PJAK is a member of the Koma Civakên Kurdistan (KCK), which is an alliance of outlawed Kurdish groups and divisions led by an elected Executive Council. The KCK is in charge of a number of decisions under the movement, and often, release press statements on behalf of its members. PJAK also has sub-divisions:
- PJAK's armed-wing - "East Kurdistan Defence Forces" (Hêzên Rojhilata Kurdistan, HRK);
- "Yerjerika" - PJAK women's branch, dedicated to serving women's interests within the group and women interests in general;
- Youth and student branch.
The PKK is also a member of KCK, and according to the New York Times, the PJAK and PKK "appear to a large extent to be one and the same, and share the same goal: fighting campaigns to win new autonomy and rights for Kurds. The only difference is that the PJAK fights in Iran, and PKK fights in Turkey. They share leadership, logistics and allegiance to Abdullah Ocalan, the PKK leader currently imprisoned in Turkey."
Like the present PKK goals in Turkey, PJAK leaders say their long-term goals are to establish an autonomous Kurdish region within the Iranian state. PJAK leadership claims that the group's goals are mainly focused on replacing Iran's theocracy with a "democratic and federal government", where "self-rule is granted to all ethnic minorities of Iran, including Arabs, Azeris, and Kurds".
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