“Mustafa Barzani” a Kurdish Leader for Kurdistan Democratic Party from 1946 until 1979

“Mustafa Barzani” a Kurdish Leader for Kurdistan Democratic Party from 1946 until 1979

Introduction

Undoubtedly, Mustafa Barzani was one of the most influential Kurdish leaders of the twentieth century. Born on 14th March, 1903 in Kurdistan, the “land of the Kurds,” a territory without an official state that is usually described as being located in northern Iraq, southeastern Turkey, northeastern Syria and western Iran, along with smaller swathes of territory in Azerbaijan and Armenia (McDowall, 2004). The majority of the terrain is characterized by the steep plateaus and austere mountains of the Zagros and eastern Taurus Mountains. The actual territories that constitute Kurdistan have fluctuated over centuries, contracting and expanding in response to pressures from outside powers, including the Persians, the Arabs, and the Ottomans. Thus, among the Kurds, Mustafa Barzani was a man of legendary proportions. His life turned out to be the legend's stuff. Famously known as “Mullah Mustafa”, he was not a mullah or a religious dignitary however a man born and raised to struggle and to escort others in war (McDowall, 2004). Mustafa Barzani's revolts, his achievements of weaponries, his 12 years exile in the Soviet Union, his splendid return and his extensive contest for Kurdish rights had known Kurds all over the world not only in Iraq but also in Iran, Turkey, the Soviet Union, Syria and overseas, in the United States and Western Europe and a sense of pleasure and pride and of nationhood like they had in no way felt before. He attained very high, however he misjudged his foundation and then descended.

Discussion

His Political Career

His career in politics started in the year 1939 when he got in touch with the Kurdish national Hiwa Party, to get control over the conventional tribal environment (Safrastian, 1948). In the year 1943, Mustafa Barzani who was then the leader of his tribe, stood up in opposition to the Iraqi central government. Following the World War II Barzani resisted the Iraqi troops and raised up not in favor of the Englishmen and for the short term had got control over the mountain regions in the north, till Royal Air Force enforced him to surrender.

With the establishment of the “Kurdistan Democratic Party” also known as KDP in the year 1946, Mustafa Barzani was elected as the party president. During the same year in Iran, he took part in the origin of the very shortly lived Republic of Mahabad and also served as the army general at that time (Abdullah, 2012).

The Struggles of Mahabad Republic

The Mahabad Republic is recognized as the highlight of the Kurdish nationalist movement. This short time of nationalized identity led to the official formation of the Peshmerga (the soldiers of Iraqi Kurdistan) and strengthened the position of Mustafa Barzani as an army hero of the Kurdish people (Kreyenbroek & Sperl, 1992). Throughout the short life of this dominion, the thought of a Kurdish homeland eventually took form. Unluckily for the Kurds, the Republic lived for ...