Mustafa Barzani was born in the village of Barzani on 14th March 1903.
In 1906, at the age of three, after uprising against the Ottoman Empire, he was detained with his mother in Mosul Prison.
In 1919,At the age of 16, he took part in Sheikh Mahmoud’s uprising commanding a 300 man force.
In 1925, he visited Sheikh Said Piran (in northern Kurdistan) as a representative of his elder brother, Sheikh Ahmad Barzani.
In 1932, he commanded Barzan forces resisting the Iraqi Government campaign, supported by British forces against the Kurds.
He was banished to various towns between 1932 and 1943, he managed to escape,
with the help of Hiwa Party and other Kurds, and returned to Barzan.
In 1945, he led the Barzan uprising against Iraqi regime, which was directly
helped by the British Royal Air Forces. In the same year, he and his forces
went to Mahabad and participated in the consolidation of the Mahabad
Republic. He was appointed Commander of the Republic’s Army and given the rank
of General by the former Soviet Union.
In 1946 he and other Kurds founded the KDP and was elected its President. He
was President of the Party from that time until his death.
Fought the forces of defunct Shah, Shah has the help of Britain and the
USA, and after the collapse of Mahabad Republic, Barzani and 500 of the
Peshmergas fought the armies of Iran, Iraq and Turkey and reached the
former Soviet Union, where they became refugees until 1958.
He and his Peshmergas returned to Iraq on 6th October 1958, i.e.
After the 14th July revolution. He welcomed by Kurdish and Iraqi popular
masses, as well as officially, as a national hero.
In 1961, he led the September Revolution from 11th September 1961 until the
collapse in March 1975. During the 8th February 1963 Black Coup by the Bath Party,
Barzani welcomed all Iraqi, Kurdish , Arab and other minorities patriots to
the liberated Areas.
In 1970, the Kurdish national movement, under Barzani’s leadership, signed
the 11th March 1970 agreement with Iraqi government, stipulating autonomy
for Kurdish within Iraq, which the government subsequently reneged.
In 1975, after the collapse of September Revolution March 1975, Mustafa
Barzani lived in Iran for a time under many restrictions. Because of
failing health and his distrust of the Shah, he went to USA to receive
treatment for his lung cancer and remained there until his death.
In 1979, he had decided to return to Kurdistan via Iran, unfortunately, he
died in the late hours of thursday, the 1st of March 1979 at George Town
Hospital, Washington DC, his body was flown to Iran and subsequently buried at
Shuno (Ashnoviya) in East Kurdistan, hundreds of thousands of Kurds and others
mourned him in his funeral.
In 1994, his body is moved, brought across the border from Iran to Kurdistan
and reburied in Barzan where he was born.
His memory will remain alive in the hearts of millions of Kurds who support
the aims he struggled for all his life. He remains the inspiration and ideal for
today’s Kurdish youth who are fired by the spirit, tenacity and resilience of
the legend that never wavered in his commitment to the Kurdish struggle for
Peace, Freedom and Democracy, and he will remain a towering figure in the
history of Kurdish people.
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“If you cannot serve your people, at least do not betray them”
~General Mustafa Barzani~
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