As a result of the Algiers Agreement on 6 March 1975 between the two countries, Iran and Iraq, and by order of the leader Mustafa Barzani, the armed revolution (Aylul Revolution) in southern Kurdistan ceased after an expanded meeting in Haji Omaran on 18 March 1975. With the end of the revolution and after an agreement with the Iranian Shahanshah government, most of the party leaders and a large number of Peshmerga and civilians from southern Kurdistan fled to Iran. Thus, almost all organizations and institutions of the Party were practically dissolved, including the party leadership in southern Kurdistan. After several months of refuge in Iran, and in order to reorganize the ranks of the party, the leadership of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, led by Masoud Barzani, met on 15 April 1975 at a water spring outside the city of Naghadeh called (Hawt Chishma) secretly with each of Jawhar Namiq, Karim Sinjari, Arif Tayfur, and Mohammed Reza. It was decided in that meeting to reorganize the Party. Following that, in early November 1975, and during a secret meeting in Karaj, it was decided to form a new leadership from the old members of the Central Committee and young party cadres to replace the old party leadership. A statement was drafted and published on 10 December 1975 in the name of the (Provisional Leadership). The number of elected members for this provisional leadership consisted of eleven members: Masoud Barzani, Idris Barzani, Sami Abdul Rahman, Jawhar Namiq, Karim Sinjari, Arif Tayfur, Mohammed Reza, Azad Barwari, Nuri Shaways, Ali Abdullah, and Kamal Kirkuki.
In order to confirm the names of the members of the Provisional Leadership of the party, it was necessary to hold a Congress, because according to the program and internal regulations decided in the 8th Congress of the Kurdistan Democratic Party in the year 1970 in Nawprdan, the members of the Central Committee of the party should have been elected within the Congress. If circumstances were not suitable for holding the Congress, the party may hold a Congress wherever it is, provided that it is supervised by one of the members of the previous Central Committee. Since the situation of the Party and the region at that time did not allow for holding the Congress, the party leadership decided to hold an expanded Congress in Europe.
Through the efforts of the Sixth Branch of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, the European borders were opened in the summer of 1976 to Kurdish refugees, after both Austria and the Netherlands expressed their readiness to accept a number of Kurds as refugees. A number of refugees, including a number of new leadership members, were sent to Europe by the Party Relations Office in Tehran. After their arrival, they were reorganized by the Sixth Branch in Europe and a large portion of them were distributed to party organizations. Thus, the situation of the party in Europe improved, and on 26 May 1976, Sami Abdul Rahman announced in a press conference held in London the resumption of the armed revolution in southern Kurdistan (Gulan Revolution). At the same time, the Party leadership decided to hold the party Congress in Europe.
Preparations for the CongressPreparations were made by the Sixth Branch of the Kurdistan Democratic Party in Europe to hold the Congress, and considering that the Headquarters of the Branch was in West Berlin, the city was designated as the venue for the Congress. After completing the preparations, the European Regional Committees were asked to send their Delegates to Berlin, where at least two Delegates were appointed for each Regional Committee, and the Regional Committees elected a member among themselves via voting, along with the head of the Regional Committee who would go directly to the Congress. They attended Berlin with a report. The Berlin University hall was rented to hold the Congress meetings, and the Preparatory Committee for the Congress was formed, including: Sami Abdul Rahman, Nuri Shaways, Hama Reza, and Arif Tayfur.
The Congress began its meetings under the chairmanship of Sami Abdul Rahman and the organizing committee on 11 August 1976. The number of members of the Regional Committees of the Sixth Branch in Europe reached forty members. The total number of members who attended the Congress, including members of the Provisional Leadership, along with the new cadres who had just arrived in Europe and guests, including Ismet Cherif Vanly, reached 48-50 members, including Tariq Akrayi (responsible for the Sixth Branch), Aziz Sheikh Reza, Siamand Banna, Ramzi Shaban, Dr. Beirut, Hamid Akrayi, Pola Maghdid Qassab Koyi, Mohammed Salih Juma, Fawzi Asaad, Mohammed Miso, Jamal Alamdar, Dr. Omar Urmari, Farhad Sufi (Farhad Jabrail), Tawfiq Faily, Majid Faily, Ezadin Barwari, Abdul Qadir Barwari, Abdul Salam Barwari, Faiq Niroyi, Mohammed Amin Dalwi, Azad Mohammed Khaffaf, Warya Saati, Abdul Rahman Bedawi, Ghazi Zebari, Mohammed Hassan Awnt, Dr. Sabah Meriwani, etc.
Holding the CongressThe work of the Congress continued from 11 to 16 August. At the beginning of the meeting, Sami Abdul Rahman read a draft of an eighty-page booklet of the Provisional Leadership to the Congress titled (Method of the Kurdish Liberation Movement), which was prepared by the supervising committee and especially by Sami Abdul Rahman and Nuri Shaways. It was a critical booklet about Aylul Revolution and its leadership, written under the influence of hardline Marxist leftist thought. The booklet was discussed by the Congress members and then voted upon. The second paragraph of the Congress tasks included confirming the names of the eleven members of the Provisional Leadership who had previously been elected as members of the leadership. With the addition of four other members, the four newly elected members of the Provisional Leadership were required to return to southern Kurdistan. After their names were announced and they were voted upon, Warya Saati, Dilshad Miran, Azad Khaffaf, and Abdul Rahman Bedawi were elected as new members of the Provisional Leadership and added to the list of Provisional Leadership members. Thus, the number of Provisional Leadership members became 15 members who were legally confirmed.
Alongside its work and tasks, several political decisions were issued at the Berlin Congress, among them the re-election of the leader Mustafa Barzani as President of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, and one of its most important decisions was the preparation for the Ninth Congress of the Party.
After finishing the work and tasks of the Provisional Leadership and electing and confirming the new members, the Congress continued by the Sixth Branch, and after naming the candidates, it was decided to conduct a vote to elect two working members of the committee within the Sixth Branch in Europe. As a result of the vote, Tariq Akrayi was re-appointed as responsible for the Branch, and Siamand Banna and Abdul Salam Barwari were elected as two working members of the Branch. Also, Jirjis Hassan and Hamid Aqrawi were added to the working body of the Branch.
The proceedings of the conference lasted six days and ended on August 16, 1976, which coincides with the same date of the founding of the Kurdistan Democratic Party. A small celebration was held on this occasion, and then on the evening of the same day, the decisions of the conference were read to the members and participants. Due to the sensitivity of the political situation at that time, no final statement was issued for the conference. A booklet titled (The Approach of the Kurdish Liberation Movement) was issued, and the booklet was later approved as the political report of the Provisional Leadership of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, which had been issued on August 11-15, 1976.
Sources* Faruq Muhammad Muhammad Amin, Iran's Policy Towards the Kurdish Liberation Movement in South Kurdistan (1975-1989), (Sulaymaniyah, Rê Nû Press – 2014).
* History of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, The Congress and the Conference (Program and Internal Regulations), Kurdistan Democratic Party Encyclopedia Board, Volume One, (Erbil - Roxana Press - 2021).
* Salah al-Kharsan, Political Currents in Iraqi Kurdistan, A Reading of the Files of Kurdish Movements and Parties in Iraq 1946-2001, (Beirut – Al-Balagh Press – 2001).
* Chris Kutschera, The Kurdish National Movement, trans. Ibrahim Younesi, 2nd ed., (Tehran - Negah Publishing Institute - 1377).
* The OPEC Summit was held with Boumediene's warning to the West, Ettela'at Newspaper, No. 14651, Wednesday, Esfand 14, 1353.
* Omar Osman, Life of a Kurd, (Erbil, Al-Haj Hashim Press, 2005).
* Dr. Ali Tatar Nêrweyî, The Kurdish Nation's Liberation Movement in Iraqi Kurdistan during the years of the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), 1st ed., (Erbil - Al-Haj Hashim Press - 2008).
* Draft of the Internal Regulations of the Democratic Party "8th Congress" (1970), Chapter Four (Party Organizations – Their Duties and Powers), Article Seventeen – Central Committee, Paragraph 2.
* Hamid al-Gawhari, Idris Mustafa Barzani and the Barzanis We Know Them Better, Oral History, (Stockholm 2014).
* Muhammad Mulla Qadir, Record of Struggle, A Brief History of the Party and the Immortal Barzani, 3rd ed., (Erbil, Aras Press, 2012).
* Encyclopedia Board Archive, Interview with Karim Sinjari, (Erbil - 29/1/2017).
* Encyclopedia Board Archive, Interview with Arif Tayfur, (Khazir - 11/12/2016).
* Encyclopedia Board Archive, Interview with Lieutenant Younis Rozbayani, 14/8/2016
* Encyclopedia Board Archive, Interview with Tariq Akrayi, (Erbil - 2017).
* Encyclopedia Board Archive, Interview with Abdul Salam Barwari, (Erbil – 2017).
* Kurdistan Democratic Party - Provisional Leadership, The Approach of the Kurdish Liberation Movement, Evaluation Aylul Revolution and the new program of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, the political report of the Provisional Leadership of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, which was approved by the Party conference on (11-15) August 1976.