Kurdistan Democratic Party
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Kurdistan Democratic Party
پارتی دیموکراتی کوردستان Partiya Demokrat a Kurdistanê |
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| Arabic name | الحزب الديمقراطي الكردستاني |
| President | Masoud Barzani |
| Founder | Mustafa Barzani |
| Founded | August 16, 1946 |
| Headquarters | Erbil (Hewler), Kurdistan Region, Iraq |
| Ideology |
Kurdish nationalism Self-determination Populism Conservatism |
| Political position | Big tent |
| International affiliation | None |
| Colours | Yellow |
| Council of Representatives of Iraq |
25 / 325
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| Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament |
38 / 111
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| Party flag | |
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| Website | |
| www |
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The Kurdistan Democratic Party (Kurdish: پارتی دیموکراتی کوردستان, or: Partiya Demokrat a Kurdistanê), usually abbreviated as KDP or PDK, is one of the main Kurdish parties in Iraqi Kurdistan. It was founded in 1946 in Mahabad in Iranian Kurdistan. The party says it exists to combine "democratic values and social justice to form a system whereby everyone in Kurdistan can live on an equal basis with great emphasis given to rights of individuals and freedom of expression."
The Kurdistan Democratic Party, like most Southern Kurdish political parties, has a complicated history that is closely intertwined with both the politics of Iraq and those of Iraq's neighbors, particularly Iran.
In 1946, the leader of the Soviet-backed Republic of Mahabad, Qazi Muhammad, announced the formation of a "Kurdish Democratic Party" based in Iran, or Eastern Kurdistan. The Soviet Union, then supporting the Kurdish national struggle against the monarchies of Iran and Iraq, instructed Mustafa Barzani to place himself under the authority of Qazi Muhammad. It is not clear whether Mulla Mustafa ever formally agreed to this arrangement, but as a fugitive from Iraqi authorities he relied upon the goodwill of the Iranian Kurds and their Soviet backers, and local Kurds were ordered by the authority of the Republic of Mahabad to house and feed his destitute forces.
It was "well-known in nationalist circles that the relations between the two men [Mulla Mustafa and Qazi] were not easy". Mulla Mustafa attempted to create a special dispensation for the Barzanis in Iran, but Qazi rebuffed them stating "There is to be only one party, and you must not operate separate from it." In the meantime, Mulla Mustafa was negotiating with Baghdad to allow his return to Iraq, and was successfully attempting to convince Iraqi Kurdish notables of the need for an Iraqi KDP. Rizgari, the Kurdish section of the Iraqi Communist Party (ICP), was vehemently opposed to the idea, as it would fracture the purpose of pan-Kurdish unity and give legitimacy to the Iraq-Iran border that divided Kurdistan.
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Wikipedia