Hawpa

Hawpa
ڕێکخراوی هاوپایی نەتەوەیی کوردستان
Organîzasyonî Hawpayî Neteweyî Kurdistan
AbbreviationPSNK
LeaderSarhoz Taher Rabaty
Founded2020
Headquarters Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq
Membership500-1000
IdeologyNeo-Nazism
Kurdish nationalism
Anti-Arabism
Anti-Iranianism
Anti-Turkism
Anti-Assyrianism
Anti-Armenianism
Irredentism
Opposition to LGBTQ rights
Political positionThird Position

Hawpa, also known as the Kurdish National Socialist Organization (PSNK), is a Kurdish anti-government underground movement and Neo-Nazi organization based in the Kurdistan Region. The party was established on the first day of Nowruz in 2020.

Etymology

The name "Hawpa" in Sorani Kurdish translates to "accomplice".

Ideology

Hawpa claims its ideology belongs to the Third Position[clarification needed] and strives for the establishment of a corporatist state under Kurdish unity. Hawpa's ideology has its origins in the Hîwa Party (1939 – 1946) and the Kajik Party (1959 – 1975), which were founded on the basis of fascist and Nazi ideas. The party has claimed to reject the belief that it is based in Nazi ideas, stating that the Swastika in its flag is based on an ancient Kurdish symbol, that the Nazi salute is a Kurdish greeting, and that posts of Nazism and Adolf Hitler are meant to clear misconceptions of its ideology.

The ideology for the organization is inspired by Ramzi Nafi Agha, an Iraqi Kurd who led Operation Mammoth against the British military during World War II. Additionally, the group has listed their year of founding as 1943, the year that Nafi held the Operation. The group primarily reaches an audience through the use of propaganda on social media.

The group is openly against most political parties in the Kurdistan Region, and through social media, has promoted the belief that Arabs should be expelled from the Kurdistan Region, while Iraqi Turkmen and Assyrians should be subject to genocide. In particular, Hawpa has previously posted offensive material against Assyrians, including denial of Assyrian continuity and mislabeling them as Nestorians, as well as calling for the disbandment of Assyrian political parties and preventing cultural celebrations. Hawpa has also been criticized for falsifying Assyrian history.

History

Hawpa was first established on Nowruz in 2020 in the Kurdistan Region. The party gained initial attention after their participation in the 2022 Nowruz festival held in Diyarbakir. During the festival, they prominently brandished flags depicting their logo, along with flags adorned with the portraits of Qazi Muhammad and Ramzi Nafi. There were reports stating they planned assaults targeting Turkish communists and members of the LGBT community. The group was also present at Nowruz celebrations in Istanbul in 2023, where they made headlines for performing the Nazi salute. In the same year, the group was registered by the Kurdistan Regional Government; the group had no legal recognition before this.

The group is also in communication with "Kurden Nasyonalist", another far-right Kurdish organization.

In June 2025, two Assyrian organizations in Europe made a statement criticizing the Kurdish Regional Government for recognizing Hawpa. The Union of Assyrian Associations in Germany and the Union of Assyrian Youth in Central Europe wrote the statement. The two organizations called for the KRG to remove Hawpa's official status. In the same month, the group posted a video on social media calling for the extermination of Assyrians. In September of the same year, a group on Telegram called "Kurdish Youth", which is linked to Hawpa, called for violence against Christian places of worship because they accused them of being "meeting places of the Nestorians" and anti-Kurdish.

Its leader, Sarhoz Rabaty, regularly publishes posts on the social media platform X, through which he disseminates his party’s ideas to the wider public.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Ural, Kemal (March 27, 2023). "Karanlık bir fikrin temelleri açığa çıktı: 'Kurden Nasyonalist'in kökeni kime dayanıyor?" [The foundations of a dark idea have been revealed: Who does the 'Kurden Nationalist' originale from?]. Demokrat Haber (in Turkish). Archived from the original on July 18, 2023. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  2. ↑ ئەندام. "هاوپا و نازییەت" [Hawpa and Nazism.]. Hawpa (Blog post.) (in Central Kurdish). Archived from the original on April 22, 2023. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
  3. 1 2 "Hawpa". Hawpa. Archived from the original on 2023-07-18. Retrieved 2023-07-02.
  4. 1 2 3 Aprim, Fred (November 2023). "Neo-Nazi Kurdish Hawpa Group Threatens to Exterminate Assyrians" (PDF). fredaprim.com. Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  5. ↑ ئەندام. "بۆ هاوپا ؟" [Why Hawpa?]. Hawpa. Archived from the original on 2023-07-23. Retrieved 2023-07-02.
  6. ↑ "هاوپا و نازییەت". Hawpa (in Kurdish). 29 March 2023. Archived from the original on 22 April 2023. Retrieved 2025-06-13.
  7. 1 2 Celik, Nuri (2024-03-01). "Nasyonal-Sosyalîstê Kurd Remzî Nafî". Rojevakurd. Retrieved 2025-09-04.
  8. 1 2 3 "Diyarbakır Newroz'unda Ortaya çıkan 'Kurden Nasyonalist'in Kökeni Kime Dayanıyor?". Serhat News (in Turkish). 2023-03-28. Retrieved 2025-09-04.
  9. ↑ ئەندام. "ئاشوورییەكان" [The Assyrians.]. Hawpa. Archived from the original on 2023-07-23. Retrieved 2023-07-23.
  10. ↑ "Endangered: The Struggles of the Indigenous Assyrians in their Homelands" (PDF). Susek Evangelical Association. 28 February 2025. p. 8. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
  11. 1 2 3 "KRG acknowledges Kurdish group calling for extermination of Assyrians". The Assyria Post. 2025-06-17. Retrieved 2025-09-04.
  12. ↑ Önal, Barış (March 23, 2023). "Diyarbakır Nevruz'unda Kürt Nazi saldırısı" [Kurdish Nazi attack on Diyarbakir Newroz]. TELE1 (in Turkish). Archived from the original on May 4, 2024. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  13. ↑ Abraham, Ashuriena (2025-06-12). "Erasing Assyrians: The Kurdish Nationalist Project". Modern Diplomacy. Retrieved 2025-09-04.
  14. ↑ Özçelik, Necdet (2023-07-28). "PKK'nın aparat örgütçüklerine son halka: Kurdên Nasyonalist". Haksöz Haber (in Turkish). Retrieved 2025-09-04.
  15. ↑ "Assyrian Organizations Condemn Kurdish Regional Government's Recognition of Extremist Party". Syriac Press. 2025-06-15. Retrieved 2025-06-25.
  16. ↑ "Escalation of hate speech against Christians in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq". Syriac Press. 2025-09-21. Retrieved 2025-09-23.
  17. ↑ per ANB SAT:https://www.facebook.com/share/v/183Jp48FKe/?mibextid=wwXIfr
  18. ↑ Sarhoz Rabaty‘s Twitter: https://x.com/sarhozt?s=21 [permanent dead link]