Mustafa Barzani
| Mustafa Barzani | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
March 14, 1903 Barzan, Ottoman Empire, (now: KRG, Iraq) |
| Died | March 1, 1979 (aged 75) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
Mustafa Barzani (Kurdish: مستهفا بارزانی Mistefa Barzanî) (March 14, 1903 – March 1, 1979), also known as Mullah Mustafa, was a Kurdish nationalist leader, and the most prominent political figure in modern Kurdish politics. In 1946, he was chosen as the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) to lead the Kurdish revolution against Iraqi regimes. Barzani was the primary political and military leader of the Kurdish revolution until his death in March 1979. He led campaigns of armed struggle against both the Iraqi and Iranian governments.
Mustafa Barzani was born in 1903 in Barzan, a village in northern Iraqi Kurdistan (then part of the Ottoman Empire). Following an insurrection launched by his tribe, he, his mother and the rest of his family were imprisoned, when Barzani was only five years old. His father, grandfather, and a brother were later executed by the Ottoman authorities for other insurrections. At an early age he joined other tribal fighters in aiding Sheikh Mahmud Barzanji's revolt against the British in Iraq.
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.
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