{{pp-extended|small=yes}} {{Short description|Iraqi Kurdish Neo-Nazi organization}} {{Infobox political party | name = Hawpa | native_name = ڕێکخراوی هاوپایی نەتەوەیی کوردستان<br /> Organîzasyonî Hawpayî Neteweyî Kurdistan | logo = | colorcode = #000000 | leader = Sarhoz Rabaty | foundation = 20 March 2020; 5 years ago | ideology = Kurdish Neo-Nazism<br>Kurdish Irredentism | headquarters = 20px 20px Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq | website = {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114024507/https://www.hawpaofficial.org}} | colors = {{color box|000000|border=darkgray}} Black {{color box|#FFFFFF|border=silver}} White | native_name_lang = ku | position = Far-right | slogan = "Kurdistan for Kurds" <br /> (Sorani Kurdish: "کوردستان بۆ کورد") | flag = Hawpa.jpg }} '''Hawpa''' ({{langx|ku|ھاوپا|Hāwpa}}),{{efn|{{lit|accomplice or person of same type}}), also known as the '''Kurdish National Socialist organization''' ('''PSNK'''),}} is a Kurdish neo-Nazi<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Manduz |first=Selda |title=Karanlık bir fikrin temelleri açığa çıktı: 'Kurden Nasyonalist’in kökeni kime dayanıyor? |url=https://www.demokrathaber.org/karanlik-bir-fikrin-temelleri-aciga-cikti-kurden-nasyonalistin-kokeni-kime-dayaniyor |access-date=2025-07-29 |website=Demokrat Haber - Bağımsız, Alternatif, Özgür Haberler |language=tr}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite news |title=هاوپا و نازییەت |url=https://www.hawpaofficial.org/2023/03/blog-post_29.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230422205813/https://www.hawpaofficial.org/2023/03/blog-post_29.html |archive-date=2023-04-22 |access-date=2025-07-29 |work=Hawpa}}</ref> organization based in the Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq. The party was established during Nowruz in 2020 and is headquartered in Erbil. In 2023 Hawpa legally registered in the Kurdish government, however since February 2026 it has lost its legal status.
Hawpa has undertaken a campaign promoting their belief that Arabs should be expelled from the Kurdistan Region, and also advocating for a genocide of Turkmens and Assyrians.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |date=28 February 2025 |title=Endangered: The Struggles of the Indigenous Assyrians in their Homelands |url=http://www.aina.org/reports/etsofiaith.pdf |access-date=25 June 2025 |publisher=Susek Evangelical Association |page=8}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite news |title=ئاشوورییەكان |url=https://www.hawpaofficial.org/2023/03/blog-post_31.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723171136/https://www.hawpaofficial.org/2023/03/blog-post_31.html |archive-date=2023-07-23 |access-date=2025-08-02 |work=Hawpa}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> The group has previously been criticized by Assyrian organizations for spreading hatred against ethnic minorities in Iraq fueling intimidation campaigns and land grabbing.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |date=2025-06-17 |title=KRG acknowledges Kurdish group calling for extermination of Assyrians |url=https://www.assyriapost.com/kurdish-group-calling-for-extermination-of-assyrians/ |access-date=2025-09-04 |website=The Assyria Post |language=en}}</ref>
== Etymology == In Sorani Kurdish, the word "Hawpa" translates to "accomplice".<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Aprim |first=Fred |date=November 2023 |title=Neo-Nazi Kurdish Hawpa Group Threatens to Exterminate Assyrians |url=https://www.fredaprim.com/pdfs/2023/Hawpa.pdf |access-date=4 September 2025 |website=fredaprim.com |language=English}}</ref>
== History == Hawpa was first established on the first day of Nowruz in 2020.<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |title=Hawpa |url=https://www.hawpaofficial.org/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230718182144/https://www.hawpaofficial.org/ |archive-date=2023-07-18 |access-date=2023-07-02 |website=Hawpa}}</ref> In 2023, Hawpa was officially registered by the Government of the Kurdistan Region; the group had no legal recognition prior. The group has also met with high-profile figures in the Kurdish Regional Government such as Omed Khoshnaw, the governor of Erbil.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Abraham |first=Ashuriena |date=2025-06-12 |title=Erasing Assyrians: The Kurdish Nationalist Project |url=https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2025/06/13/erasing-assyrians-the-kurdish-nationalist-project/ |access-date=2025-08-02 |website=Modern Diplomacy |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=SyriacPress |date=2025-06-15 |title=Assyrian Organizations Condemn Kurdish Regional Government’s Recognition of Extremist Party |url=https://syriacpress.com/blog/2025/06/15/assyrian-organizations-condemn-kurdish-regional-governments-recognition-of-extremist-party/ |access-date=2025-07-29 |website=Syriac Press |language=en-US}}</ref> In the same year, the group was present at Nowruz celebrations in Istanbul, where they made headlines for performing the Nazi salute.<ref name=":0" />
On June 12, 2025, the Assyrian Federation in Germany (ZAVD) and the Assyrian Youth Federation of Central Europe (AJM) issued a joint appeal condemning Hawpa. The organizations urged the EU and international actors to condemn Hawpa and engage Kurdish authorities on the matter.<ref name=":3" /> In the same month, the group posted a video on social media calling for the extermination of Assyrians.<ref name=":7" /> In September, a Telegram group linked to the organization, "Kurdish Youth", called for violence against Christian places of worship on the grounds of being "meeting places of the Nestorians" and being anti-Kurdish.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-26 |title=Kurdish group calls for destruction of Assyrian churches in leaked Telegram chat |url=https://www.assyriapost.com/kurdish-group-calls-for-destruction-of-assyrian-churches-in-leaked-telegram-chat/ |access-date=2025-09-26 |website=The Assyria Post |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2025-09-21 |title=Escalation of hate speech against Christians in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq |url=https://syriacpress.com/blog/2025/09/21/escalation-of-hate-speech-against-christians-in-the-kurdistan-region-of-iraq/ |access-date=2025-09-23 |website=Syriac Press |language=en-US}}</ref>
The group has also communicated and met with "Kurden Nasyonalist", another far-right Kurdish organization.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-07-28 |title=PKK'nın aparat örgütçüklerine son halka: Kurdên Nasyonalist |url=https://www.haksozhaber.net/pkknin-aparat-orgutcuklerine-son-halka-kurden-nasyonalist-165194h.htm |access-date=2025-08-02 |website=Haksöz Haber |language=tr}}</ref>
In 2026, Mona Yaqo, head of the Independent Human Rights Commission in Erbil, announced the initiation of legal proceedings against the organization in January of this year due to its incitement activities. On 9 February, she announced the revoking of the groups legal status after it was proven to have deviated from the civil framework and transformed into an extremist ideological platform.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2026-02-11 |title=Anti-Assyrian Nazi-Kurdish hate group in northern Iraq loses legal status |url=https://www.assyriapost.com/anti-assyrian-nazi-kurdish-hate-group-in-northern-iraq-loses-legal-status/ |access-date=2026-05-08 |website=The Assyria Post |language=en}}</ref>
== Ideology == Hawpa's ideology belongs to the Third Position and strives for the establishment of a corporatist state under Kurdish unity.<ref>{{Cite news |title=بۆ هاوپا ؟ |url=https://www.hawpaofficial.org/2023/03/blog-post_27.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723172030/https://www.hawpaofficial.org/2023/03/blog-post_27.html |archive-date=2023-07-23 |access-date=2025-08-02 |work=Hawpa}}</ref> It has its origins in the Hiwa Party (1939–1946) of Rafiq Hilmi and the Kajik Party (1959–1975), both of which were founded on the basis of fascist and Nazi ideas.<ref name=":1" />
Hawpa is openly anti-government and is against most political parties in the Kurdistan Region. Part of the group's stated ideology, “Hawpaism” seeks to eliminate the backward post-1946 Kurdish nationalism of the KDP and PUK.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Rojevakurd |date=2024-03-01 |title=Nasyonal-Sosyalîstê Kurd Remzî Nafî |url=https://rojevakurd.com/nasyonal-sosyaliste-kurd-remzi-nafi/ |access-date=2025-08-02 |website=Rojevakurd |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> “Hawpaism” rejects the modern intellectualism of the Kurdish Populace, since the ideology holds that today's intellectuals in Kurdistan are nihilists and leftists.<ref name=":5" /> Much of the group's ideology is inspired by Ramzi Nafi, an Iraqi Kurd who led Operation Mammoth in 1943 in collaboration with two German Army officers.<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=“Türk solu” |url=https://devrimciproletarya.org/turk-solu/ |access-date=2025-08-02 |website=Devrimci Proletarya |language=tr}}</ref> The group has previously listed their year of founding as 1943, the year when Nafi led Operation Mammoth.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |date=2023-03-28 |title=Diyarbakır Newroz’unda Ortaya çıkan 'Kurden Nasyonalist’in Kökeni Kime Dayanıyor? |url=https://www.serhatnews.com/diyarbakir-newrozunda-ortaya-cikan-kurden-nasyonalistin-kokeni-kime-dayaniyor |access-date=2025-08-02 |website=Serhat News |language=tr-TR}}</ref>
The group primarily reaches an audience through the use of propaganda on social media.<ref name=":8" /> Through its platforms, the group has promoted the belief that Arabs should be expelled from the Kurdistan Region, while Turkmens and Assyrians should be subject to genocide.<ref name=":6" /> In particular, the group has previously posted offensive material against Assyrians, including denial of Assyrian continuity and mislabeling the community as Nestorians, as well as calling for the disbandment of Assyrian political parties and preventing cultural celebrations.<ref name=":1" /> The group has also been criticized for falsifying Assyrian history.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":7" />
=== Symbolism === The party's flag consists of a black banner with a white circle in the middle; inside of the white circle is the Kurdish Sun with a Swastika in the middle. The party has claimed to reject the belief of Neo-Nazism, 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 aimed at clearing misconceptions of its ideology.<ref name=":2" />
== See also == {{Portal|Kurdistan}} * List of neo-Nazi organizations * Anti-Arabism in Kurdistan
==Notes== {{notelist}}
== References == {{reflist}}
Category:Kurdish nationalist political parties Category:Neo-Nazism in Asia Category:Fascism in Iraq Category:Political parties established in 2020 Category:Ethnic cleansing in Asia Category:Anti-Arabism in Asia Category:Anti-Turkish sentiment Category:Kurdish nationalism in Iraq Category:Third Position Category:Incitement to genocide Category:Anti-Christian sentiment in Iraq Category:Anti-Assyrian sentiment Category:Kurdish irredentism