Sources consulted by the Research Directorate do not indicate that the Democratic Party of Kurdistan (DPK) is an Iranian Kurdish organization separate from the Kurdish (Kurdistan) Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI).

The phrase "Democratic Party of Kurdistan" has been incorporated into alternate names for the KDPI which appear in the documentary record in two examples found by the Research Directorate. The KDPI is referred to by those initials and also as the "Iranian Democratic Party of Kurdistan" in the reference book Extremist Groups: An International Compilation of Terrorist Organizations, Violent Political Groups, and Issue-Oriented Militant Movements (1996, 637). The secretary-general of the KDPI, Sadegh (Sadeq) Sharafkandi, was assassinated in a Berlin restaurant, the "Mykonos," in September 1992 (ibid.; Deutscher Depeschen Dienst 12 Oct. 1996). "Sadegh Sharaskandi" [sic] is referred to as the head of the "Democratic Party of Kurdistan in Iran" in a 1996 article on the trial of the accused assassins of Sharafkandi and three others (The Times 21 Aug. 1996).

The KDPI is referred to by the initials "DPK" in a 29 April 1997 report on the Voice of Iranian Kordestan which broadcast the text of an open letter from KDPI secretary-general Abdallah Hassanzadeh ((Abdollah Hasandazeh) to the chancellor of Austria. In that source the KDPI is also referred to as the "Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan." The reference book Political Handbook of the World 1997 (available in Regional Resource Centres) notes that the KDPI is also known as the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (DPIK), and that Abdallah Hassanzadeh was reported to have become its secretary-general in May 1995 (1997, 389). Abdallah Hassanzadeh is also referred to as the secretary-general of the "Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI)" in a 6 March 1996 interview in the Spanish newspaper El Mundo. The initials "DPK" do not appear in that source.

Sources consulted by the Research Directorate indicate that there is an Iraqi Kurdish organization known as the Democratic Party of Kurdistan (DPK). Examples follow.

Several sources refer to the Democratic Party of Kurdistan (DKP) as an Iraqi Kurdish opposition organization headed by Mas(ud (Massoud) Barzani and active in northern Iraq: (DPA 18 Nov. 1997; Zaman 19 Aug. 1997; Frankfurter Rundschau 18 Feb. 1997; TASS 13 Sept. 1996).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA). 18 November 1997. BC Cycle. "Kurdish DPK Reports Large Territorial Gains in Northern Iraq." (NEXIS)

Deutscher Depeschen Dienst [Berlin, in German]. 12 October 1996. "Senior Defector Tells Germans Iranian Government Ordered Dissident Killings." (BBC Summary of World Broadcasts 14 Oct. 1996/NEXIS)

El Mundo [Madrid, in Spanish]. 6 March 1996. Manuel Martorell. "Iran: Kurdish Leader Says Iran 'Behind All Terrorist Acts.' " (FBIS-NES-97-046 6 Mar. 1996/WNC)

Extremist Groups: An International Compilation of Terrorist Organizations, Violent Political Groups, and Issue-Oriented Militant Movements. 1996. Compiled and Analyzed by Jeffrey A. Builta. Chicago: Office of Criminal Justice, the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Frankfurter Rundschau [Frankfurt/Main, in German]. 18 February 1997. Edgar Auth. "Kurdish Leader Says Regime 'Weakened and Isolated.' " (FBIS-NES-97-033 18 Feb. 1997/WNC)

Political Handbook of the World 1997. 1997. Edited by Arthur S. Banks. Binghamton, NY: CSA Publications.

TASS. 13 September 1996. Rafael Bikbayev. "Execution of 25 Members of Patriotic Union of Kurdistan." (NEXIS)

The Times [London]. 21 August 1996. Ben MacIntyre. "Iranian Exile Claims Death Squad Threat." (NEXIS)

Voice of Iranian Kordestan [Clandestine, in Persian]. 29 April 1997. "Iran: DPK Secretary-General's Letter to Austrian Chancellor." (FBIS-NES-97-120 30 Apr. 1997/WNC)

Zaman [Istanbul, in Turkish]. 19 August 1997. Ali Riza Karasu, Zeki Gun, and Soner Gunes. "Turkey: Democratic Party of Kurdistan Reportedly Warns PKK." (FBIS-WEU-97-233 21 Aug. 1997/WNC)