Mustafa Barzani

Mustafa Barzani was born in 1903 in Barzan, a village in southern Kurdistan. When Barzan was just a few months old, his home village was attacked by the Hamidiye Horsemen, an Ottoman army made up mostly of Kurdish tribal warriors and commanders, and he and his family were deported to Diyarbakır, where he spent a long time in prison. Following an insurrection launched by his tribe, he and his family were imprisoned, when Barzani was only three years old. His father, grandfather, and a brother were later executed by the Ottoman authorities for other insurrections. At an early age he was sent by his older brother Sheikh Ahmed Barzani to join with about twenty men the revolt of Kurdish chiefs of Az Zibar against the British in Iraq. About a hundred fighters managed to ambush the British diplomat J.H.H. Bill and his company and the group was divided into two. Bill was killed with three others, while two local Kurdish tribesmen were spared. In 1931 he followed his older brother, the Barzani chieftain (sheikh) Ahmed Barzani, who led an insurrection against Baghdad's attempts to break up tribal power in the Kurdish regions of Iraq. The insurrection began when Sheikh Ahmed had entered into a feud with a neighboring tribal chieftain in Baradost after the latter attacked Sheikh Ahmed for heresy, prompting Iraq to intervene as they had intended to check the Barzani tribe before then. Iraq received help from its British allies, who engaged in aerial warfare against territories in rebellion. The aerial bombardments led to widespread damage and setbacks, leading Sheikh Ahmed to surrender to Turkish forces on the then-contested border with Turkey in June 1932, while Mustafa Barzani and a brother Muhammad Sadiq continued fighting for another year. On the advice of Sheikh Ahmed, Mustafa Barzani surrendered to Iraq. But in 1939 he was involved in the formation of the political party Hewa (Hope), the first Kurdish political party in Iraq. Mustafa Barzani was kept under surveillance until 1943, when he again broke free from his exile in Sulaymaniyah as Iraq underwent the effects of World War II. Baghdad again utilized tribal rivalries to defeat Barzani, sending him, Sheikh Ahmad, and about three thousand followers fleeing across the border to Iran, entering Oshnavieh in October 1945, where Kurdish nationalists under the guidance of the Soviet Union were establishing a new Kurdish state. Despite differences between Qazi Muhammad and Mustafa Barzani, the arrival of Barzani's forces gave a boost to the ability of the nationalists to assert control over the region. == Early political career ==

His political career began in 1939, when he came into contact with the Kurdish nationalist Hiwa Party, which, in turn, was interested in collaborating with Barzani to gain influence over the traditional tribal milieu. In 1943, Barzani, now the official leader of his tribe, rebelled against the Iraqi central government. Exile in the Soviet Union Barzani and his followers arrived in the Armenian SSR and were put in a camp near Nakhchevan. After appealing to the Soviet Union to help them, Barzani and his followers were transferred to the Azerbaijani SSR, kept in camps near and around Baku. Barzani met with Azerbaijan Communist Party officials, who under orders from Moscow were told to help the Kurds. In November 1947, Barzani met for the first time Mir Jafar Baghirov, the First Secretary of the Azerbaijan Communist Party, to discuss what the Kurds could do in the Soviet Union. Barzani's followers were organized into a military regiment and received training in military tactics and politics, as well as education to learn to read and write Kurdish.On 19 January 1948, a conference was held gathering Kurds from Iraq and Iran in Baku, where Barzani outlined a plan for the Kurdish movement. This prompted Iran to again demand that the Soviet Union extradite Barzani and his followers to Iran to stand trial, which the Soviet Union rejected. Barzani however fast ran into problems with Baghirov due to differences and stances towards the Kurdish movement. As Baghirov was connected to Lavrentiy Beria, this gave Baghirov a lot of power in regional affairs, leading to Barzani requesting his followers be transferred out of Azerbaijan fearing Baghirov would act against them. Barzani and the others were transferred to the Uzbek SSR in August 1948, but Baghirov's disputes with Barzani were not forgotten. Despite assurances from both the Secretary-General of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan Usman Yusupov, Baghirov's rivalry with Barzani spilled over into Uzbekistan and resulted in Barzani himself and much of his followers to be separate and spread across the country to do hard labor. For the following three years, Barzani was separated from his followers, prompting them to engage in sit-ins and strikes demanding they be reunited and their cause recognized. Barzani sent numerous letters to Moscow, addressing them to Joseph Stalin himself, requesting that he and his followers be treated better and reunited. Only one of these letters reached the Kremlin and shortly afterwards in March 1951, Soviet officials began investigations to address the concerns of Barzani and his followers. The committee found that Barzani and his followers were unfairly treated, and in August 1951 the Soviet government reunited Barzani and the other Kurds, giving Mustafa Barzani a residence in Tashkent while the rest were given homes in a small community outside of Tashkent. All of them were provided with jobs, education, training, and social services that was given to other Soviet citizens. Barzani would later meet with Soviet figures like Georgy Malenkov and Nikita Khrushchev in May 1953 after the death of Stalin to ensure that the Soviets would continue helping him and his followers. Shortly afterwards, Soviet officials moved Barzani to a residence in Moscow and enrolled him in the Party Higher School. Rumors also spread that Barzani was given a rank in the Red Army, which appears to have been false. Recounting the story years later to Yevgeny Primakov, Barzani recalled that he had bought a uniform at a Voentorg (military supplies) store while in Tashkent in 1951, and took a picture of himself wearing it. This picture somehow fell into the hands of British intelligence, which was the source of rumors of Barzani having been inducted as a member of the Soviet Red Army. During his time in exile, the Kurdish Democratic Party was founded in Iraq, holding its first Congress on 16 August 1946, in Baghdad, electing Mustafa Barzani as its president. The party would later rename itself to the Kurdistan Democratic Party in January 1953 during its Third Congress. == Iraq and revolutions ==

Mustafa Barzani, following his return to Iraq in 1958, would engage in numerous insurgencies against Baghdad, often seeking and gaining support from the KGB, CIA, Mossad, MI6 and SAVAK, as well as support from Syria and Jordan depending on which country was opposed to the government in Baghdad at the time, taking advantage of the complexities of the Cold War in the Middle-East. Return from exile and Qasim Following the Republican coup against the Hashemite monarchy, the Kurds were granted more rights. In the provisional Iraqi constitution on 27 July 1958 was included that Kurds and Arabs were partners of the same nation. Following, several Kurds were appointed into high military ranks and Barzani was invited to return to Iraq. when Barzani received religious officials in his headquarters. The clerics had thought they were carrying suitcases with recording devices for the benefit of Baghdad, but had instead been wired with explosives. The explosion did not kill Barzani but killed others participating in the meeting, and in the confusion Peshmerga guards rushed in and killed the clerics. The government drivers who drove the clerics tried to salvage the assassination and tossed a grenade, killing a Peshmerga and wounding twelve, but missing Barzani, before they themselves were shot and killed. Although the conspirators were not captured, Barzani attributed responsibility for the attack to Saddam Hussein. who admitted to knowing about the assassination in 1983 and was sad that it was unsuccessful. Through much of 1973, Barzani began to rebuild and reorganize the Peshmerga in anticipation of another conflict with Baghdad. On 11 March 1974, the Ba'ath government passed the autonomy law which it presented to Barzani for approval. With Kirkuk not included and his faith in the Ba'ath for a genuine autonomy low, Barzani rejected the agreement. Joining his son Ubeydullah, a number of members of the KDP, angered with Barzani's opening towards the United States, Israel and Iran, and the perceived betrayal of KDP's socialist origins, defected to Baghdad. Renewed hostilities and defeat The 1975 Algiers Agreement was signed between Iran and Iraq in March during an OPEC conference in Algiers, mediated by Algerian President Houari Boumediène and thus ending the long-running feud between the two states over the Shatt al-Arab and other border disputes, with the US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger seeing it as necessary realpolitik to preserve stability in the Middle-East and close opportunities for the Soviet Union to exploit against Iran. The agreement stipulated that Iran end support for the peshmerga as well as no longer transporting supplies sent from other countries, which spelled the end for Barzani's rebellion as it could no longer keep the peshmerga supplied. On 23 March, just a few days after the Algiers Agreement was finalized, Barzani and nearly 100,000 followers left Iraq for Iran, ending the insurrection against Iraq, and allowing the Ba'ath Party to implement its assimilation policies towards the Kurds. Ahmad and Talabani, along with their supporters, later established the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in June 1975, criticizing Barzani and KDP for what they described as "the inability of the feudalist, tribalist, bourgeois, rightist and capitulationist Kurdish leadership". == Exile and death ==

Barzani and his family were settled near Tehran in Karaj. The KDP went through a chaotic period as it attempted to reorganize itself in face of the defeat at the hands of the Ba'ath in Iraq. Barzani and his aides continued trying to get support from the United States, seeing that the Soviet Union had settled for amicable relations with the new government in Iraq. The United States' support for the Kurdish movement appeared to be primarily strategic, as it focused on countering Iraq's influence rather than advancing Kurdish nationalist goals. The findings of the Pike Commission suggested that the CIA's involvement with the Kurdish movement was primarily strategic, aiming to weaken Iraq rather than support long-term Kurdish autonomy. Barzani lived to witness significant geopolitical changes, including the overthrow of the Shah, the departure of Henry Kissinger after Gerald Ford's defeat in the 1976 U.S. presidential elections, and the death of Algerian President Houari Boumediene, all of which influenced the Kurdish struggle. Seeking to treat lung cancer, Barzani went to the United States, and died on 1 March 1979, at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C., while undergoing treatment while his sons Masud and Idris Barzani then took over the leadership of the KDP. He was buried in Iranian Kurdistan in Oshnavieh after his body was flown back from the United States. In October 1993, Barzani's remains were brought across the border from Iran to Iraqi Kurdistan, to be reburied in his hometown of Barzan. == Legacy ==

His son, Massoud Barzani, was the leader of the KDP and was re-elected as the President of the Iraqi Kurdistan region with 66% of the popular vote in July 2009. A grandson, Nechirvan Barzani, the son of Idris Barzani, was the prime minister of Iraqi Kurdistan. Molla Mustafa Barzani was accused by various quarters, not least by Jalal Talabani, of having tied the national movement of Iraqi Kurdistan too closely to tribal structures and of acting solely to gain power for himself. However, due to his charisma and inflexibility, many Kurds consider him a prominent figure in the Kurdish independence movement. Mustafa Barzani has a high position among Kurdish nationalists and is an example to Kurdish nationalists. He is considered and respected by the Kurds as the great guide and ancestor of the Kurds. == Gallery ==

File:Kurdish leader Mustafa Barzani with Egyptian leader Jamal Abdulnasir.jpg|Mustafa Barzani with Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser File:Mustafa Barzani in 1958.jpg|Mustafa Barzani in 1958 File:Mustafa Barzani in Baghdad in 1959.jpg|Mustafa Barzani in Baghdad in 1959 File:Kaka Ziad Koya and Mustapha Barzai.jpg|Left to right: Mohsin Dizayee, Nafez Jalal, Kaka Ziad Koya, Kemal Mustapha Kerkuki Turkman, Mustafa Barzani, Shafiq Agha, Ali Ko == See also ==