Kurdistan Region’s Komal drops ‘Islamic’ from its name

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Kurdistan Islamic Group (Komal) decided on Friday to change its name to Kurdistan Justice Group, citing problems with the word “Islamic.”

Komal, a political party based in the Kurdistan Region with Islamic roots, held its fourth party congress this week and decided to drop the word “Islamic” from its name and change the title of its leader from “emir” to “president.” The former is associated with Islamic systems of rule. 

The congress also re-elected Ali Bapir as leader. He has held the position since the establishment of the party in May 2001. He was easily voted in with no rivals, according to the final statement of the congress, published by the party’s media.  

Faruq Ali, a member of Komal’s leadership, told Rudaw the party was named during a very different time. Recently, a number of organizations have been formed with the name “Islam,” but these groups “defame Islam,” he said, referring to groups like the Islamic State (ISIS).

Komal was established by Bapir who was a long-time commander of the Islamic Movement in Kurdistan (IMK) – an umbrella group of Islamic political forces formed in 1987. It sought territorial control of parts of the Kurdistan Region and implementation of Islamic law (Sharia). 

The party’s final statement from the congress said they dropped the word “Islamic” in order to “be more open to society.”  

“This shows Komal can become an effective force to bring change to the political and social reality of Kurdistan and the region,” read the statement. 

Komal officials attend Islamic and non-Islamic conferences inside the Kurdistan Region and abroad. The word “Islamic” in their name caused some problems for them traveling internationally, according to Hawzheen Omar, organizer of the congress. “Therefore, it was important to change the name,” he told reporters.

Komal has been accused of having ties to Ansar al-Islam, a predominantly Kurdish Salafist group that was formed six months after the establishment of Komal. It was linked to al-Qaeda and fought Kurdish political parties and the US forces in the 2000s. In 2004, Komal denied any links with Ansar al-Islam.  

The opposition party has seven seats in the Kurdistan parliament and two in the Iraqi parliament.