Causes

 On 6 March 1975, the Algiers Agreement between the Kingdom of Iran and the Ba'athist government of Iraq put an end to the Aylul Revolution which had been launched in 1961 by the Kurdistan Democratic Party in Southern Kurdistan. As a result of this agreement and the cessation of the revolution, the vast majority of the revolutionary leadership and members of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, along with their families, were displaced to the Country of Iran and surrounding countries; only the Party organizations in Europe continued their activities.

The Algiers Agreement, which led to the collapse of the Aylul Revolution and the displacement of more than one hundred and eighty thousand Kurdish individuals to the Country of Iran, created a sense of final victory over the Kurds among the authorities of Ba'athist Iraq and even the monarchical regime of Iran. The Ba'athist regime felt that the leadership that had led the Kurdish movements in that Country since the beginning of the formation of Iraq was gone, so it began implementing a plan to destroy Kurdistan and a policy of displacement and Arabization. After the collapse of the revolution, the Ba'athist regime began changing the demography of Kurdistan, and in a short time, a vast area of Kurdistan was subjected to a wave of displacement, and a large number of Kurdish citizens were settled in forced settlements. The Iranian monarchical regime, like Iraq, considered itself successful against the Kurds, believing that with this action, they had taken revenge for the 11 March 1970 agreement on President Mustafa Barzani Iran, at the request of the Iraqi government, closed its borders to the arrival of refugees and opened their camps to Iraqi officials to encourage the refugees to return to Iraq. Those Kurds who remained and chose Iran were later moved to the farthest border regions of eastern and southern Iran.

This difficult and dangerous Situation had placed the struggle of the Kurdistan Democratic Party in Southern Kurdistan in danger of extinction and near its end, so by Masoud Barzani and in consultation with his older brother Idris Barzani, a proposal was made to reorganize the organs of the Party and the revolution. On 2 April 1975, at a large meeting in Naqadeh, which was organized by President Mustafa Barzani to meet with the refugees, the proposal was presented by Masoud Barzani to President Mustafa Barzani who gave his approval. In the same month of April 1975, preparations for the revolution were started by Masoud Barzani preparations began.

Preparations for restarting the revolution

After the Naqadeh meeting on 2 April 1975, the task of reorganizing the Party and revolutionary organs was entrusted by President Mustafa Barzani to Masoud Barzani and he himself was moved to the city of Tehran by the Iranian authorities. Both Masoud Barzani and Idris Barzani, after consultation and discussion, agreed that Idris Barzani would supervise the affairs of the refugees in Iran and Masoud Barzani would reactivate the Party and revolutionary organs and work again to restart the revolution in Southern Kurdistan. At that time, in the city of Naqadeh in Eastern Kurdistan, they began making contacts. Since the old leadership and well-known cadres were closely monitored by the SAVAK Intelligence Agency, they relied more on young cadres, especially those who had previously worked with Masoud Barzani and could be relied upon more in such a Situation.

On 15 April 1975, the first secret meeting of the Party was held at a spring in the outskirts of Naqadeh called Haft Cheshmeh. Both Masoud Barzani، Jawhar Namiq Salim، Karim Shingali، Azad Barwari and Muhammad Reza  were present at the meeting. In the meeting, it was decided that Jawhar Namiq Salim, Karim Shingali, Azad Barwari, Arif Tayfur, Dr. Kamal Kirkuki, and Shirko Ali would be sent back to Southern Kurdistan and Sami Abdulrahman and Muhammad Reza would be sent to Europe. The supervision of the work of the refugees was entrusted to Idris Barzani، Ali Abdullah, Muhsin Dizayi, Falakadin Kakayi and Franso Hariri It was also decided to contact the cadres and Peshmerga who had remained in Iraq and Syria as soon as possible. On 16 April 1975, two letters were sent by Masoud Barzani to Muhammad Khalid Bosali and Jalal Talabani who were in Syria at the time.

In June 1975, Tariq Akrayi, head of the Sixth Branch of Europe and president of the Kurdish Students Association, and his wife Shirin Katani returned secretly from Europe to Iran and met with President Mustafa Barzani in the capital, Tehran. Later, they went to the city of Naqadeh to see Masoud Barzani and other comrades. In the same month of June, in the city of Naqadeh, with the presence of Masoud Barzani، Idris Barzani, Tariq Akrayi, Sami Abdulrahman، Ali Abdullah and Dr.Mahmud Osman a secret meeting was held and the first draft of the Party's statement after the collapse of the revolution was prepared in the name of the Europe Branch. Also, the decision to hold the conference of the Sixth Branch of Europe and the congress of the Kurdistan Students Association in Europe was issued in the summer of the same year. The draft of the statement was later taken to President Mustafa Barzani in Tehran, and there, after some minor edits, it was taken to Europe and published there.

In response to those efforts by the leadership of the Kurdistan Democratic Party to reorganize and quickly restart the revolution, on May 25, 1975, the creation of a semi-front called the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan was announced by Jalal Talabani in the country of Syria.

In September 1975, President Mustafa Barzani was sent to the United States of America for medical treatment under the close supervision of the Iranian SAVAK Intelligence Agency. On September 15, at the request of President Barzani, Masoud Barzani visited the United States. After receiving the necessary treatment, they returned to Iran on October 10, 1975, and settled in Azimiyah, Karaj, near the capital, Tehran.

After the return of President Mustafa Barzani، Masoud Barzani, a large number of refugees from various parts of the country of Iran visited Azimiyah, Karaj, to inquire about the health of President Mustafa Barzani and to welcome him back. During that opportunity, those Party cadres who had been entrusted with the task of reactivating the Party's secret organizations gathered once again around Masoud Barzani and the Party leadership.

At the request of Masoud Barzani and after the comrades reunited, in the middle of November 1975, a secret meeting was held at the house of Masoud Barzani and with the presence of Jawhar Namiq، Karim Shingali, Arif Tayfur, and Muhammad Reza in Azimiyah, Karaj. In the meeting, several important decisions were made, including the establishment of a joint leadership between the old and new leadership of the Party. Returning to South Kurdistan and recreating armed detachments and secret organizations of the Party and the revolution; for this purpose, it was decided to divide the regions of South Kurdistan into two regions, Region One and Region Two, which were later known as Badinan and Soran. The Hamilton Road was designated as the border between the activities of these two regions. At the same time, both regions were freed to have their own specific activities in other cities of Iraq. For this purpose, Jawhar Namiq and Karim Shingali were designated as the leadership of Region One (Badinan), and Arif Tayfur, Shirko Sheikh Ali Sargalo, and Sheikh Aziz Sheikh Yusuf were designated for the leadership of Region Two (Soran), and the time for their return to their areas of activity was set.

In this same meeting, it was decided to publish a statement. Masoud Barzani instructed the comrades to write that statement. It was then that Jawhar Namiq, Karim Shingali, Arif Tayfur, and Hama Reza wrote the statement after their return to the city of Tehran. The next day, the comrades went back to Azimiyah, Karaj, to see Masoud Barzani where the statement was evaluated once again, and after a minor edit, it was taken to President Mustafa Barzani and he gave his approval for its publication. It was decided that the statement would be printed in the town of Naqadeh. It was not yet clear under what name the statement would be published, and it was there for the first time that the name Provisional Leadership of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (Al-Qiyada al-Muwaqqata) was decided upon. Later, on December 10, 1975, it was published under that name and with the title (Kurdistan is the true arena of struggle).

Provisional Leadership

In the middle of November 1975, at the secret meeting in Karaj, it was decided to establish a provisional leadership for the Party, given that the Central Committee of the Kurdistan Democratic Party had practically dissolved due to the situation that the collapse had brought upon the revolution and the Kurdish people, especially after leaving the country, their displacement, and the breakdown of the internal organizations of the Kurdistan Democratic Party.

According to the Party's program and internal regulations, members of the Central Committee must be elected within a congress and by the vote of the congress representatives, but the situation after the collapse on one hand, and on the other hand, the intense surveillance that the Iranian Intelligence Agency (SAVAK) had placed on the activities of the Party members, made holding a congress seem impossible. It was then that at the meeting in the middle of November in Karaj, and later by consulting with President Mustafa Barzani it was decided to designate a new leadership for the Party, but because the new members were not being elected through a congress, it was decided to add the suffix (Provisional) to the leadership, and until the opportunity to hold a Party congress arises, these shall remain as members of the Provisional Leadership of the Party. In this way, the Provisional Leadership of the Party, which was known as (Al-Qiyada al-Muwaqqata), was established.

In the first step, the number of members of the Provisional Leadership of the Party was only seven people, who consisted of Masoud Barzani، Idris Barzani، Jawhar Namiq، Karim Shingali، Arif Tayfur، Hama Reza and Azad Barwari, in this way, the members of the new Provisional Leadership were generally composed of young people, except for Idris Barzani and Masoud Barzani who were members of the Party's Central Committee before the collapse of the Aylul Revolution , the others were designated for the Provisional Leadership after the dissolution of the Central Committee at the Karaj meeting. With the goal of further developing collective work and reorganizing the political and military organs of the Party, it was decided to contact those members of the old Central Committee who had remained in the country of Iran until that time and were willing to continue their political struggle within the framework of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, and to benefit from their political experience, especially among them Sami Abdulrahman and  Dr. Mahmoud Osman . It was then that after visits and discussions, each of Sami Abdulrahman، Nuri Shaways and Ali Abdullah  were added to the Party's Provisional Leadership, later Dr. Kamal Kirkuki after Arif Tayfur was arrested by the Iranian government, was sent back to Southern Kurdistan as the official in charge of Region Two, and at the same time his name was added to the list of members of the Provisional Leadership. In this way, the number of members of the Provisional Leadership reached eleven members and they remained this way until the Berlin Conference on August 11, 1976. In that conference, four more members were added to the members of the Provisional Leadership by voting, who were Wrya Sa'ati، Dilshad Miran، Aza Khafaf and Abdulrahman Pidawe, with this, the number of members became fifteen and until the 9th Congress of the Kurdistan Democratic Party Year 1979, the names remained as they were.

Resumption of the revolution

After the election of the members of the Provisional Leadership of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, the division of Southern Kurdistan into two regions of Soran and Badinan, the rebuilding of the Party's organizations and Peshmerga in those two regions and outside the Country, and on the other hand, the tightening of the Iraqi Ba'ath government's grip on the Kurdish people through the displacement and destruction of the villages of Kurdistan, finally the time for the resumption of the struggle and armed revolution by the Kurdistan Democratic Party against the Iraqi Ba'ath regime in Southern Kurdistan arrived. On April 28, 1976, a secret meeting was held by Masoud Barzani in which Muhammad Reza, Arif Tayfur, and Azad Barwari participated. In that meeting, the final decision on the redistribution of tasks and preparation for the armed revolution was issued.

In general, the month of May 1976 was the month of the resumption of guerrilla and armed activities against the regime's army. Initially, in the areas of Amadiya and Zakho, a Peshmerga unit belonging to the Provisional Leadership clashed with the regime's army. As a result of this clash, a number of the regime's army soldiers were killed. The regime's forces were forced to use the air force after this clash and bombed the areas of Nerwa and Rekani on the border of Iraq and Turkey. At the same time, after evaluating the Situation by the Party's leadership, May 26 was designated as the date for the resumption of the armed revolution, and the first bullet of the revolution was fired at the Iraqi Ba'ath regime's army at four o'clock in the morning on May 26 (Gulan) 1976.

On May 26, a Party Peshmerga unit in Zino near Haji Omaran fell into an ambush by the regime's army. After the fighting began between the two sides, eight Iraqi army soldiers were killed and twelve others were wounded. In this battle, Said Abdullah the commander of the Party's battalion was martyred and became the first martyr of the revolution after the collapse of the September Revolution. On the same day, another armed unit of the Party's Provisional Leadership in the village of Kashani in the Badinan region, commanded by Abu Nawal, attacked a position of the regime's army, and in this way, fighting and clashes resumed in most of the border areas, especially in Badinan and on the border of Turkey and Iraq.

In general, during the years (1976-1979), which is considered the first phase of the Gulan Revolution and is supervised by the Provisional Leadership, despite all the difficulties and ups and downs, and despite the formation of several other armed political organizations in Southern Kurdistan that headed to the mountains of Kurdistan in the name of starting a revolution and there placed their opposition to the Kurdistan Democratic Party before their opposition to the Iraqi Ba'ath regime and in many different times and places dragged the Party's Peshmerga into civil war, despite that, according to the military statements of the Provisional Leadership at that time, which were issued continuously, the fighting between the Peshmerga forces of the revolution and the regime's army continued despite the heavy human and material losses inflicted on the army. In many cases, a large part of the border areas was controlled by the Peshmerga forces of the revolution and the government no longer had authority over them. During that period, several epics of resistance similar to the battle of Sharanish on August 18, 1976, Battle of Bangrd October 11, 1976, Battle of Sharsten  December 26, 1976, the battle of Govke and Battle of Belmbir May 25, 1977, and the battle of Qasrok in the year 1978, were recorded, which became the seed for continuing the revolution in the following years.

The Ninth Congress and the dissolution of the Provisional Leadership

On June 19, 1976, President Mustafa Barzani was sent for the second time under the close supervision of the Iranian SAVAK Intelligence Agency to the United States of America for the purpose of receiving treatment for his illness. Masoud Barzani who had for some time been entrusted with the task of supervising the Party's organizations, was a companion to President Mustafa Barzani on this trip. It was decided that the visit would last for six weeks and then they would return to the Country of Iran, but their return lasted until the year 1979 and the passing of President Mustafa Barzani .

During that time, the Party's organizations inside the Country were managed by the Provisional Leadership, most of whom had returned to Southern Kurdistan, especially Sami Abdulrahman . The Party was given a different guise by them, especially after holding the Berlin Conference, and was given a completely Marxist appearance that was far from the original policy of the Party and the path of Barzani. In the Berlin Conference by Sami Abdulrahman in order to strengthen his position, he added four of his supporters to the members of the Provisional Leadership, they modified the Party's program and internal regulations, and a booklet titled The Path of the Kurdish Liberation Movement, the content of which was criticism of the revolution's leadership and in which the line that the Party would henceforth base its struggle on was determined, was published.

These actions by some members of the Provisional Leadership, and especially Sami Abdulrahman, although they were not to the liking of the Party's leadership, but in order not to harm the unity of the Party and the organizations of the revolution, the solution was postponed to a suitable time.

In February of the Year 1979, the monarchy regime in Iran collapsed and the government of the Islamic Republic replaced it. A short time later, the news of the passing of President Mustafa Barzani On March 1, 1979, in the United States of America, it spread to every corner that the new Iranian authorities showed their consent for the remains of Mustafa Barzani to be returned to the country of Iran and to be buried there for a temporary period. It was on March 4, 1979, that his remains were brought back to Iran and buried in the town of Oshnavieh in Eastern Kurdistan.

Participating in the funeral of President Mustafa Barzani in Eastern Kurdistan was a reason for all the members, cadres, Peshmerga, and the party leadership to gather together once again and decide on the fate of the party after the President. It was after several meetings that the decision was made to hold the Ninth Congress of the Kurdistan Democratic Party.

On November 10, 1979, in the Zewe camp west of the city of Urmia in Eastern Kurdistan The Ninth Congress of the Kurdistan Democratic Party was held. As a result of this congress, unanimously Masoud Barzani was elected as the President of the Party, and a new Central Committee for the party was appointed by voting, which replaced the temporary leadership of the party. At the same time, the party and military organs of the revolution were reorganized, and the party returned to its true path to some extent.

The situation in the region after the year 1979 and Gulan Revolution

After the change of the ruling regime in Iran, political power in Iraq also underwent changes. President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr stepped down from power, and on July 17, 1979, Saddam Hussein replaced him. After Saddam Hussein took power, the regime's policy towards the Kurds went from bad to worse. The Ba'ath government deployed five divisions and fifty thousand police, border guards, and reserve forces to control the borders where the Peshmerga bases were established. Despite this, after several small battles, the regime could not stop the development of the Peshmerga's military activity, so the Iraqi Air Force bombed several villages in Eastern Kurdistan in June 1979 under the pretext of the presence of Peshmerga. The situation of the Peshmerga forces on the Turkish border also went from bad to worse when Ali Haydar Ozga, the head of the Turkish Intelligence Agency, visited Baghdad on March 29, 1979, for the purpose of resolving the border problems of both countries. On September 12, 1980, a military coup was carried out in Turkey by General Kenan Evren. As a result, thousands of Kurds from the areas of Northern Kurdistan fled and took refuge in neighboring countries. The Turkish government deployed thousands of soldiers in the border areas of Syria, Iraq, and Iran and ordered them to attack the Peshmerga of the Party and other forces of Kurdistan near the borders.

On August 16, 1979, a republican decree was issued in the name of Saddam. The decree stated that all political prisoners should be released and a general amnesty should be issued for all those Kurds who had gone to the mountains or left the country and returned. It also allowed those who were covered by the amnesty to return to their previous duties, and those Kurds who had been deported to central and southern Iraq to return to Kurdistan, but after their return, they were settled in forced camps.

On September 22, 1980, after their relations deteriorated, war broke out between the two countries of Iraq and Iran. Since the Kurdistan Democratic Party was a fierce enemy of the Ba'ath regime and had started a revolution against it long ago, it helped the Islamic Republic of Iran in that war and used Iran's assistance to advance its national goals.

JUD Front

After the success of the Islamic Revolution of Iran in 1979, the Iraqi opposition forces tried hard to unite their ranks and strengthen the relations between them for the purpose of establishing a strong national front. The Kurdistan Democratic Party, for its part, insisted heavily at the 9th Congress on creating a political front, and one of the decisions of the Congress was to create a broad front at the level of Kurdistan and Iraq. In return, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan attacked the Peshmerga of the Kurdistan Democratic Party in the Hawraman region on April 7, 1980, and also asked the Kurdistan Socialist Party (KSP) to cut off their relations with the Party, thus the attempt to create a joint opposition front was thwarted.

Also with the aim of creating a unified Iraqi opposition front against the power of the Ba'ath regime, on November 12, 1980, the (JUKAD) front, an abbreviation of (Jebhat al-Wataniya al-Qawmiya al-Dimuqratiya), was formed in Syria, in which the parties of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party (Iraq Regional Command), the Arab Socialist Movement, the Iraqi Communist Party, the Iraqi Socialist Party, the People's Liberation Army Organization of Iraq, the Independent Democrats, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, and the Kurdistan Socialist Party (KSP) were members. Although the representatives of the Communist Party tried hard for the Party to participate in this front, the Union did not agree, and the Ba'ath Party (Iraq Regional Command) and the Arab Socialist Movement also supported the Union's position.

After several parties did not agree for the Party to become a member of the (JUKAD) front, the Kurdistan Socialist Party and the Iraqi Communist Party joined the Party, and on November 28, 1980, a new front called (JUD) was announced.

On November 28, 1980, in the village of Keoper, belonging to Khani (Eastern Kurdistan), a cooperation agreement was signed between the Party, the (KSP), and the (ICP), which in a meeting from the Party Masoud Barzani، Ali Abdullah, Dr.Mohammed Salih Juma، Roj Nuri Shaways and from the (KSP) Rasool Mamand, Tahir Ali Wali, and from the (IKP) Ahmad Banikhelani and Fatih Rasool were present. On November 29, 1980, the news of the establishment of the (JWD) front was broadcast on the Voice of Kurdistan radio, whose goal was the overthrow of the Ba'ath regime, the establishment of a democratic, national, and truly autonomous regime for Kurdistan, and ending the war between Iraq and Iran. This front was supported by the Islamic Republic of Iran. On November 10, 1981, the (PASOK) party also joined the (JWD) front, but the formation of the front could not unite all opposition forces, and instead of party rivalry, front rivalry also emerged, which led to the deepening of conflicts and civil war between the Kurdish parties.

Political and military Situation (1980-1986)

After reorganizing the party organs and the Peshmerga forces of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, especially after the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq war, the activities of the Peshmerga against the regime's army in the border areas resumed, in such a way that along the borders of Iran and Turkey, in most places, the Peshmerga forces of the Party were dominant and had tightened the noose on the Iraqi army. In return, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan was constantly thinking of compensating for the defeat they had suffered in 1978 in the border areas of Turkey and Hakkari at the hands of the Party's provisional leadership forces. Therefore, on May 14, 1980, with the help of the Ba'ath government, they resumed the war against the Party's forces in Alwatan. The attacks of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan later included the Party's allied parties, and the war became a war with the (JWD) front, which caused huge human and material losses to all sides. The Ba'ath authorities, for their part, began destroying villages, displacing people, and purging them in the most brutal way. In the Year 1987, more than ten thousand Faili Kurds were disappeared, and in May 1983, after Ali Hassan al-Majid was made responsible for the northern affairs of the Ba'ath Party, more than eight thousand of the Barzanis who had been settled in forced settlements were disappeared.

Tehran Peace Conference 1986

In the Year 1985, the relationship between the PUK and the Iraqi Ba'ath Party deteriorated after the failure of the negotiations. It was in October 1986 that a political-military agreement was signed between the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they carried out joint military activities against the regime's army. The arrival of the Revolutionary Guards in Kurdistan through the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the striking of the Kirkuk oil wells caused a strong reaction from the Ba'ath government, and the destruction of Kurdish villages, especially on the Kirkuk border, began.

At the end of the Year 1986, the Iranian government tried to unite the Iraqi opposition forces against the Ba'ath regime and hold the Iraq Peoples' Cooperation Conference in Tehran. Invitations were sent to all parties and factions, and on December 24, 1986, the conference was held in the Iranian capital, Tehran. Idris Barzani He participated in that conference as the head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party delegation and played a major role in bringing about peace between the parties, especially the Party and the PUK, and strengthening their alliance with the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The position of the Ba'ath regime after the Tehran Peace Conference

At the beginning of the Year 1987, all the border areas of Kurdistan were out of the government's control and were liberated by the Peshmerga. On February 12, 1987, Iranian forces, with the help of the Party and PUK forces, attacked the Haji Omaran area and were able to capture the heights of Gardamand and several other places in the east of Rawandiz. In May 1987, the Ba'ath Party leadership decided that Ali Hassan al-Majid should become the Secretary-General of the Northern Bureau, replacing Muhammad Hamza al-Zubaidi, and he was given absolute power. Immediately upon taking office, he issued several decisions, such as declaring the areas where the Peshmerga were present as prohibited areas; shooting and killing in these areas were permitted without any conditions. On June 30, 1987, according to the Revolutionary Command Council decision number (457) in Iraq, all agricultural directorates in all cities and towns of Kurdistan were dissolved, and all types of agricultural machinery were banned.

In the Year 1988, after the weakening of the Iranian army militarily, the Ba'ath army focused most of its force on the Kurdistan regions and began its attacks in the most brutal way. Simultaneously with the displacement of people, the bombing of revolutionary bases, and the chemical bombardment of Kurdish cities and villages, it began to continue the (Anfal) genocide campaign and the genocide of the Kurdish people. Just throughout the Year 1988, in eight stages from Garmian to Badinan, more than one hundred and eighty thousand Kurdish individuals were disappeared and Anfal-ed.

Kurdistan Front

The beginning of the idea of creating a unified Kurdistan front in Southern Kurdistan dates back to the meetings of November 1986 between the Kurdistan Democratic Party led by Idris Barzani and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan led by Jalal Talabani in the Iranian capital, Tehran. Later, after the success of the Tehran Peace Conference in February 1987, both sides issued a joint statement on efforts to form a Kurdistan front and promised to unite the Peshmerga forces. On July 18, 1987, the parties of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the Socialist Party, PASOK, and the People's Party met at the headquarters of the Political Bureau of the Kurdistan Democratic Party and issued a statement on the unification of Iraqi opposition forces, especially Kurdish forces, and the decision to establish the Kurdistan Front was made. Later, on July 30, 1987, a joint statement was issued, in which the goals of the Kurdistan Front were discussed.

After several meetings of the political parties and factions of Southern Kurdistan, especially the peace agreement between the Party and the PUK in the autumn of 1987, the Kurdistan Front was announced on May 2, 1988, and on May 12 of the same year, it began its activities, and its first meeting was held at the beginning of June 1988 in Khwakurk.

Until the year 1988, the Kurdish forces and parties in Southern Kurdistan were assisted by the Islamic Republic of Iran against the Ba'ath regime. With the cessation of war between the two countries on August 8, 1988, the aid to the Kurds from Iran ended, and the government of Iraq began attacking Kurdistan and the Peshmerga forces with all its might. In response, on July 20, 1988, at a meeting of the Central Committee of the Kurdistan Democratic Party under the supervision of President Masoud Barzani the decision for defense and resistance was made, and battlefronts were opened in the Khrena and Khwakurk areas. The President himself, Masoud Barzani was present in the field on the front lines. Later, as a result of the regime's army attacks on the headquarters of the Peshmerga forces, many battles and acts of heroism were recorded by the Peshmerga forces, and undoubtedly the battle of Khwakurk is one of the prides and honors of the Kurdish people in that phase.

Gulan Revolution was the result of all those revolutions that had been launched by the Kurdish people against the successive regimes of Iraq over the past decades, and with the formation of the Kurdistan Front, the unification of the Kurdish forces of Southern Kurdistan, and the uprising of the spring of 1991, it achieved the long-standing goal of the Kurdish people in Southern Kurdistan by creating a protected, independent region.  

The most important battles of the second phase of the revolution (1980-1988)

After the end of the first phase of the revolution, which lasted from (1976-1979) and was considered the era of the Provisional Leadership, following the passing of President Mustafa Barzani and the holding of the 9th Congress of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, a new phase of the revolution against the regime began, which coincided with the outbreak of the eight-year Iraq-Iran war, the war between the two countries. During that period, it had a great impact on the revolution. The Party leadership took advantage of the opportunity and expanded the battlefronts against the Ba'ath regime, and even after the cessation of the war between the two countries, the fighting was continued by the Peshmerga forces of the revolution. During that period, despite all the internal problems and complications, many battles and epics of heroism were recorded by the Peshmerga forces of the revolution against the regime's army, which day by day brightened the horizon of the future of the Kurdish people and gave them the glad tidings of final victory. It was those very battles and resistance that eventually led to the spring uprising of 1991 and the liberation of Southern Kurdistan. Among the most important battles of this phase:

- Kani Sef battle, October 20, 1980

- Haji Omaran battle, October 18, 1980

- Sorin Mountain battle, beginning of the year 1982

- Biyare battle, January 3, 1982

- Sharazur battle, May 31, 1982

- Siani Gare battle, December 10, 1982

- Sharman battle, March 29, 1983

- Sayidsadiq battle, August 16, 1983

- Kanyelanja battle, November 21, 1983

- Akre battle, Year 1983

- Duhok battle, August 1984

- Sarsing battle, spring of the Year 1985

- Qaradagh battle, June 1986

- Amedi battle, October 8, 1986

- Zakho battle, October 12, 1986

- Baske battle, December 20, 1986

- Ahmadawa battle, July 1, 1987

- Atrosh battle, January 4, 1987

- Bamarni battle, May 26, 1987

- Basra battle, July 27, 1978

- Kani Masi Epic , September 13, 1987

- Amedi to Deraluk battles, January 11, 1987

- Qaradagh battle, April 20, 1987

- Derelul battle, August 5, 1987

- Hiran battle, August 16, 1987

- Dereluk battle, January 11, 1988

- Balisan battle, February 26, 1988

- Zakho to Bativa battles, February 26, 1988

- Halabja attack battle, March 12, 1988

- 143rd Battalion battle, March 13, 1988

- Zakho battle, January 8, 1988

- Mandil battle, January 10, 1988

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