In the
first days of the Iraqi Revolution of 1958, everything seemed to be ideal
for the Kurds. They were recognised as the partners with the Arabs in new
Iraq. They were promised their political and cultural rights within Iraq.
These expectations lived short; soon differences emerged between the Iraqi
authorities and the Kurds. The Kurds of Iraq saw no hope, but to seek
armed struggle to realise their rights. In 1961, the first major fighting
between the Iraqi forces and the Kurds began. This fighting continued with
some interruptions until 1975.
Historical Background
Mustafa Barzani
The Kurdistan Democratic Party of
Iraq, the KDP, was formed on 16 August 1946. Before the KDP was formed
there was a branch of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran, KDPI, in
Suleimaniyeh led by Ibrahim Ahmad. In 1946, the Shurish send Hamza
Abdullah to Mahabad to see how they could cooperate with the Iranian
Kurds. In Mahabad Hamza met Mulla Mustafa and they discussed the
possibility of forming a party on the model of the Kurdistan Democratic
Party of Iran. In 1946, the remnants of Hewa, Shurish, Rizgari joined
together to form the KDP. When the Kurdish Republic of 1946 was defeated
the branch of the KDPI in Suleimaniyeh joined the KDP. On 16 August 1946,
a congress was formed in which the formation of the KDP was announced [1].
In this congress the KDP stated the political and economic situation of
the Kurds in Iraq were different from that of Iran. It demanded autonomy
for the Kurds of Iraq [2]. Mulla Mustafa Barzani was elected as the
president of the party and two other landlords, Sheikh Latif and Sheikh
Ziad Agha were appointed as vice presidents. Hamza Abdullah was elected
its Secretary- General [3].
Mulla Mustafa Barzani led a Kurdish revolt in 1943. This revolt and the
subsequent events made him one of the greatest Kurdish heroes. He became
the symbol of Kurdish resistance for about 32 years. Mulla Mustafa was
born in the village of Barzan on 14 March 1903. In 1906, when he still was
three years old, he was detained with his mother in Mosul Prison when his
brother Abd al-Salaam Barzani led an uprising against the Ottoman Empire
[4]. He was of a tribal and religious family. His grandfather, Muhammad,
gathered a large following around himself for being a prominent leader of
the Naqshbandi order. Mulla Mustafa''s grandfather was famous for his
piety. This made his descendants the spiritual leaders of Barzani tribe
[5]. Mulla Mustafa was involved in different revolts conducted by his
brother Sheikh Ahmad. He led a force of 300 and joined Sheikh Mahmud''s
revolt when he was still sixteen years old [6]. In 1932, the British tried
to settle the Nestorian Christians who had been expelled by the Turks near
Barzan. Sheikh Ahmad, the older brother of Mulla Mustafa, attacked them.
The Iraqi forces with the assistance of the British Royal Air Force forced
them to retreat to Turkey. They were pardoned and returned to Iraq. They
were exiled to Nasiriyeh in Southern Iraq for four years, and then to
Suleimaniyeh where he stayed until 1943 [7]. It was in Suleimaniyeh that
Mulla Mustafa was in contact with Kurdish intellectuals and nationalists.
He was influenced by the idea of Kurdish nationalism in Suleimaniyeh. In
1943, with the help of the Hewa party, Mulla Mustafa escaped from
Suleimaniyeh to Barzan where he conducted a revolt against the Iraqi
government [8]. So, the first phase of Mulla Mustafa''s revolt began.
Mulla Mustafa''s revolt attained a nationalist character. Apart from his
tribesmen, some Kurdish officers and soldiers in the Iraqi army joined
Mulla Mustafa. He was able to gather a force of 700 composed of tribesmen
and Kurdish army officers and soldiers who deserted the Iraqi army to join
him [9]. On 12 February 1945, Mulla Mustafa with the support of Kurdish
officers formed a political organisation called the �Freedom Group�.
The Freedom Group demanded autonomy for the Kurds of Iraq. Its aim was to
unite Kurdish tribes and establish contacts with other Kurdish
organizations [10].
Mulla Mustafa could not resist the superior forces of Iraq so retreated to
Iranian Kurdistan. Mulla Mustafa''s revolt was still in its early stages.
He had not yet organised his forces well and had not enough forces to
combat the Iraqi army supported by the British Royal Air Force and Kurdish
tribes hostile to the Barzani tribe. In September 1945, he retreated to
Iranian Kurdistan where there was no government control. His forces formed
the backbone of the Kurdish Republic of 1946 in Iran which was announced
on 22 January 1946.
After the defeat of the Kurdish Republic of 1946 in Mahabad, Mulla Mustafa
had no choice but to seek asylum in the Soviet Union. When the Kurdish
Republic was defeated by the Iranian forces in December 1946, Mulla
Mustafa tried to reach an agreement with the Shah of Iran over his
settlement in Iran, but he did not succeed. His forces were attacked by
the Iranian forces and the hostile Kurdish tribes in Iran; he retreated to
Iraq. He was caught between three hostile states, Iraq, Iran and Turkey.
He finally decided to march towards the Soviet Union in 1947, with 500 of
his followers. In this �Great March� Mulla Mustafa with his followers
walked about 200 kilometres in 52 days. In their ways to the Soviet Unions
they were attacked by the Turkish forces, Iranian forces and the Kurdish
tribes of Iran. He finally managed to pass the Araxas River into the
Soviet Union on 15 June 1947 where he stayed for about 11 years [11].
The Iraqi �Revolution� of 1958
Abdulkarim Qasim
The Iraqi �Revolution� of
1958, opened a new phase in Kurdish history in Iraq. On 14 July 1958,
�Free Officers� in Iraq staged a successful coup against the Hashemite
monarchy which came to be called the �Iraqi Revolution of 1958� [12].
In a power struggle ensued among the free officers, Qasim emerged as the
successful leader of the Iraqi Revolution. Initially Qasim was on good
terms with the Kurds. Article 23 of the Provisional Constitution on 27
July 1958, recognised the Kurds of Iraq as the partners with Arabs in the
Iraqi state. It guaranteed the Kurdish rights within an Iraqi union. Mulla
Mustafa Barzani who had been living in the Soviet Union for eleven years
was welcomed by Qasim as a national hero on 6 October 1958 [13]. For the
Kurds everything seemed to be desirable.
However, differences soon arose over autonomy and tension grew between
Barzani and Qasim. It seemed that Qasim was not ready to recognise the
rights of the Kurds. In early 1961, the Qasim regime began to harass the
Kurdish leaders; some of them were arrested and Kurdish newspapers were
banned. In July 1961, the KDP was prevented from holding its annual
congress [14]. In July 1961 Mulla Mustafa sent a petition to the
government and demanded autonomy. The demand was rejected by the Iraqi
Revolutionary Council. Mulla Mustafa, who became wary of the intention of
the Qasim�s regime, went to Barzan to prepare for an uprising[15].
Abdulkarim Qasim with Mulla Mustafa
Barzani
War
escalated between Mulla Mustafa and the Qasim government in September
1961. When Barzani prepared for the war Qasim refrained from attacking his
forces. Instead he agitated the Kurdish tribes hostile to Barzani to fight
him. The full-scale fighting began when the Arkon detachment led by Sheikh
Abbas Muhammad, a tribe allied to Barzani, angered by the government''s
land reform law, attacked a government force between Kirkuk and
Suleimaniyeh. The government retaliated by bombarding Barzani villages.
Barzani forces retaliated by occupying army�s frontier posts, Kurdish
villages and towns. Therefore, a full-scale war began on 11 September
1961. On 16 September the government launched a major offensive which
became known as the �First Offensive� [16]. The clashes between the
Kurdish forces and the Qasim army continued until he was overthrown in
1963.
War stopped between the government and Kurdish forces when Qasim was
removed from power in a coup led by the Ba''athists and General Abd
al-Salaam Arif. In a power struggle between the Ba''athists and Arif, the
Ba''athist were over-powered by General Arif in November 1963 [17].
Initially, the Iraqi government was not in a position to fight the Kurds.
The Iraqi leaders were more concerned to consolidate their positions
against their rivals. The Kurds too refrained from attacking the weak
government forces hoping that the new government would recognise their
rights. The Arif government ignored Kurdish autonomy, but as a gesture of
good will he appointed two Kurds, Baba Ali Sheikh Mahmud and Brigadier
Fuad Arif, to his cabinet [18].
General Abd al-Salaam Arif soon gave the indication that like his
predecessor Qasim he was not interested in Kurdish autonomy. Tensions soon
grew and clashes began between the government and Kurdish forces. On 10
June 1963, the Iraqi army started its �Second Offensive�. The Kurdish
nationalists were labeled as a group of gangs by the government officials.
On 2 July 1963, Lieutenant General Saleh Mahdi Ammash, the Defence
Minister, denied that there was war going on between the Kurds and the
government forces. He considered the fighting in Kurdistan as a national
picnic by the army helped by civilians to destroy the gangs [19]. The
fighting intensified; on 5 April 1965, and on 4 May 1966 the Iraqi army
began their �Third and Fourth Offensives� [20]. During the �Fourth
Offensive� Abd al-Salaam Arif died in a helicopter crash and his brother
General Abd a-Rahman Arif replaced him [21].
General Abd a-Rahman Arif seemed to follow his predecessors'' path. When
Abd al-Salaam Arif was killed Mulla Mustafa announced a one-month
ceasefire. Both the Kurds and the government forces needed a break. Arif
needed to consolidate his position; the Ba''athists had grown strong. He
survived an attempted coup in June 1966. Soon it became evident that Abd
al-Rahman Arif did not want to compromise. He stated he would never grant
autonomy to the Kurds and he would never negotiate with them. The Iraqi
army attacked the Kurdish forces, but suffered a major defeat [22].
Prime Minister Bazzaz, who believed the problem could not be solved by
force, moved in to negotiate with the Kurds. As a result, on 29 June 1966
Prime Minister Bazzaz announced a �Fifteen Point Plan� which was
accepted by Mulla Mustafa. The plan recognised Kurdish national rights
within Iraq. The Kurdish language was recognised as an official language.
The Bazzaz government promised decentralisation of the country''s
political system, free elections of the administrative council and
proportional representation for the Kurds in central government [23]. On 6
August 1966, Bazzaz was forced to resign and his successors had no
intention of implementing his plan. Nevertheless, the Kurds leaned back
and carefully watched the political process in Iraq and maintained
dialogue with Arif. Dissatisfaction among the Kurdish ranks grew, but no
major incident occurred between the government and Kurdish forces.
President Arif was overthrown by a Ba''athist coup led by General Hassan
al-Bakr on 17 July 1968 [24].
The new Ba''ath government was conscious that the Kurdish problem
precipitated the downfall of the previous governments. It tried not to
oppose the Kurds directly, but play them against each other. From the
beginning the Ba''ath government announced its commitment to Bazzaz plan.
Meanwhile it tried to play the Ibrahim Ahmad faction against Mulla Mustafa.
Mulla Mustafa, angry at government attempts to dislodge him, reacted by
opposing the government. He reactivated his clandestine radio and his
forces clashed with the Iraqi army. At the same time there were clashes
between the forces of Ibrahim Ahmad faction and Mulla Mustafa. As the
forces of Ibrahim Ahmad were no match for those of Mulla Mustafa, the
government entered into the fighting in favour of Ibrahim Ahmad faction.
So the full-scale fighting between the government and Mulla Mustafa forces
began in spring 1969. The Ba''athist government launched what became known
as the �Fifth Offensive� [25]. In this fighting Mulla Mustafa''s
forces were able to resist the government attacks well and the Iraqi
government realised it could not make any peace with the Kurds unless
Mulla Mustafa consented.
The Iraqi government finally decided to solve the Kurdish problem by
granting autonomy to the Kurds of Iraq. The Iraqi government''s inability
to defeat the Kurdish forces, fear of intervention by Iran, economic
decline resulting from war, weakness of the army, and instability of the
government forced the Ba''ath regime to find a solution to the Kurdish
problem. After a series of negotiations, on 11 March 1970, the government
signed a peace accord with the Kurds which became known as the
�Manifesto of 11 March 1970�.
The �Manifesto of 11 March 1970� was the most comprehensive autonomy
accord the Kurds had ever had. It was embodied in the new Iraqi
constitution that the Kurds were co-nationals with the Arabs. The Kurds
were given legislative power in their region. One of the two
Vice-Presidents was to be a Kurd. There was a provision for a Kurdistan
development budget, and the Kurdish language was recognised as an official
language beside Arabic [26]. Although Mulla Mustafa was suspicious of the
government sincerity he accept the accord. The Kurds and the government
forces for a while lived in peace.
Lack of mutual trust between Mulla Mustafa and the Iraqi government
prevented the implementation of the �Manifesto of 11 March 1970�. Each
side blamed the other for failing to implement the Manifesto. There were
two major problems in the way, one was oil-rich region of Kirkuk and the
other vice presidency. The Kurds demanded to have a proportion of revenues
from Kirkuk oil and they regarded Kirkuk as an inseparable part of
Kurdistan. The Iraqi government was not ready to relinquish such oil-rich
region. Both sides agreed to conduct a census to determine the future of
the region. The Iraqi government to reduce the number of Kurds settled the
Arabs in the region. The Kurds accused the government of delaying the
census and seeking to arabise Kirkuk, Khanaghin and Sinjar [27]. In July
1970, the KDP nominated Muhammad Habib Karim as a candidate for the Iraqi
vice presidency. His nomination was rejected by the Ba''ath government on
the grounds that his background was Iranian [28].
Further problems arose between Barzani and the Iraqi government. Each side
accused the other of breaching the agreement. The Kurds blamed the
government for building up its armed forces and attacking the autonomous
region. On 7 December 1970, Mulla Mustafa''s son, Idris, escaped an
assassination attempt. On 29 September 1971, and on 15 July 1972, attempts
were made to assassinate Mulla Mustafa Barzani. The Iraqi government was
accused of being involved in these plots [29]. The Ba''ath regime also
accused Barzani of getting arms from Iran, helping the Iranian
Intelligence Service to gather information on Iraqi army, having a new
broadcasting station radio in Iranian soil, siding with the Iranian forces
in certain border clashes, and the training of Kurdish peshmargas (guerrillas)
by the Iranian officers [30]. The tension rose high between the two sides.
However, they tolerated each other until 1974.
The government was not happy with the way the Kurds escalated their
demands so on 11 March 1974, the Iraqi government unilaterally announced
its own �Autonomy Law� for the Kurdish Region [31]. The 1974 Law
limited the Kurdish autonomy and Kurdish region and it was rejected by
Mulla Mustafa Barzani. Fighting between the government and Mulla Mustafa
forces started again. It lasted until March 1975, when Iran and Iraq
signed an agreement in Algiers which ended the Kurdish insurgency.
The Algiers Agreement ended the Kurdish insurgency which had been going on
since 1961. During the OPEC meeting, on 6 March 1975, the Shah of Iran and
Saddam Hussein signed an agreement. In this accord Saddam Hussein agreed
to recognise the Iranian sovereignty over half of the Shat al-Arab,
abandon the Iraqi claim of the Khuzistan province of Iran, and end the
subversion of the Iranian Baluchis along the border with Pakistan. The
Shah undertook to withdraw his support to Kurdish insurgency in Iraq [32].
The Shah immediately withdrew his support and in a few days the Kurdish
revolt came to its abrupt end.
The Algiers agreement had a devastating result for the Kurds. When Barzani
announced the collapse of the armed struggle, thousands of peshmargas
surrendered to the Iraqi forces and about 100,000 to 200,000 peshmargas
and their family and supporters sought asylum in Iran [33]. The Iraqi
government razed to the ground some 800 Kurdish villages along Iraq''s
borders with Iran and Turkey to form a �security belt� to prevent the
contact between the Kurds of Iraq with Turkey and Iran [34]. It was also
taken as a provision to prevent future rebel activity in the area. The
Kurdish families in Iraq were bundled up in army trucks to be settled in
Southern Iraq. They were distributed in groups of five to be settled in
special places build for this purpose or were distributed among the Arab
villages. Life became very difficult for the Kurds who were not accustomed
to the deserts. It is estimated that about 85 percent of those refugees
who returned from Iran under the provision of general amnesty were
deported to those desert camps. There is no exact figure of the Kurds
exiled to Southern Iraq. It is estimated something between 50,000 to
350,000 persons [35]. The casualties of the war were also very high. On 15
January 1979, al-Thawra, an official Iraqi newspaper, put the numbers of
Iraqi army casualties at about 16,000 while the Kurds claimed to have lost
2,000 peshmargas, excluding the civilian casualties who numbered thousands
[36].
Conclusion
The Iraqi �Revolution� of 1958 signified three trends in Kurdish
history in Iraqi Kurdistan. Firstly, for the first time the Kurds of Iraq
were officially recognised as a partner in Iraqi state and their cultural
and political rights were recognised. Before that the Kurds had never
enjoyed an official status. This paved the way for the growth of �mass
Kurdish nationalism� and gave the Kurds a hope that one day they would
be able to enjoy their cultural and political rights.
Secondly, the Iraqi �Revolution� of 1958 signified a new phase in
Kurdish revolt in Iraqi Kurdistan. A revolt which was no more tribal alone
but supported by the different classes in Kurdish society such as teachers,
merchants, students and so on. Thirdly, the Iraqi �Revolution� of 1958
created new lines of division within Kurdish insurgency. This time the
division was not only based on tribal line, but on ideological basis and
differences of opinions that has continued to the existing day.
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