Engineer Muhammad Raza Arif Ali, known as Muhammad Sheikh Raza of Sargalu, joined the ranks of the Party in 1960, joined the Peshmerga forces in 1961, and became a member of the Provisional Leadership of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (Berlin Conference). In 1979, he participated in the Shawan meeting and was elected as a member of the Political Bureau of the Provisional Leadership of the Kurdistan Democratic Party . 

Biography 

Engineer Muhammad Raza Arif Ali, known as Muhammad Sheikh Raza of Sargalu, was born in 1944 in the city of Sulaymaniyah. He graduated from the College of Agriculture at the University of Baghdad in 1970. In 1975, after the collapse of the Aylul Revolution , he became a refugee in the Kingdom of Iran. In May 1976, he moved to the Republic of Austria and settled there as a refugee. In 1981, he was appointed as an agricultural expert at the FAO organization. On Sunday, March 15, 2020, he passed away in the city of Vienna due to illness. On Monday, October 5, 2020, his remains arrived in the Kurdistan Region via Erbil Airport and were subsequently laid to rest in the village of Sargalu, affiliated with the Sulaymaniyah Governorate. He was proficient in Arabic, Kurdish, German, and English.

Struggle Record

In 1958, he joined the ranks of the Kurdistan Students Union and the Kurdistan Democratic Youth Union. In 1960, he joined the ranks of the Party. In 1961, he joined the Peshmerga forces. In 1963, he participated in the Dukan-Kotel (Sulaymaniyah) battle. In 1964, he was a member of the Blise organization committee. In 1966, he was made a member of the Baghdad University organization committee affiliated with the Baghdad Branch Committee of the Fifth Branch Committee. In 1968, he was made the official in charge of universities and high schools in the city of Baghdad. In 1969, he was made the official in charge of the Baghdad regional committee affiliated with the Fifth Branch Committee. In 1970, he was a branch member of the Fifth Branch Committee and then became an administrator of the Fifth Branch Committee. In 1970, he was a representative of the 8th Congress of the Kurdistan Democratic Party  .

 On Tuesday, April 11, 1972, accompanied by Salih Abdullah Najmadin (1918-1981), known as Seyda Salih Yusifi , he welcomed Hamid Buzdaryades, a member of the Presidency Council of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, at the headquarters of the Fifth Branch Committee in the city of Baghdad. On November 27, 1972, as a representative of the Kurdistan Democratic Party , he participated in the Congress for the Support of the Palestinian Revolution in the city of Beirut. From November 27 to 30, 1972, he was the head of the delegation of the Kurdistan Democratic Party to the National Congress for the Support of the Palestinian Revolution in the city of Beirut. In 1973, he was made an administrator of the Fifth Branch Committee. On Monday, June 11, 1973, accompanied by Salih Abdullah Najmadin (1918-1981), known as Seyda Salih Yusifi , he welcomed a delegation from the Joint Arab Front for the Palestinian Revolution at the headquarters of the Fifth Branch Committee. In 1974, as a result of his participation in the Leila Qasim cell, he was sentenced to death in absentia by the Ba'ath regime of Iraq.

At the beginning of April 1975, he was tasked by Comrade Masoud Barzani to make preparations for the Gulan Revolution. In mid-April 1975, he participated in the broad Urmia meeting for leaders, commanders, and cadres of the Kurdistan Democratic Party with the aim of continuing the struggle and resistance. At the end of April 1975, he was invited by Comrade Masoud Barzani along with four other figures to participate in the first meeting of the Provisional Leadership of the Kurdistan Democratic Party outside the town of Naghadeh in Eastern Kurdistan with the aim of continuing the defense and resistance.

 At the end of 1975, he was designated by his comrades in the Provisional Leadership of the Kurdistan Democratic Party to work in the Sixth Branch Committee of Europe. Also, at the end of 1975, for a period of three months, due to political activity and preparations for the Gulan Revolution , he was imprisoned by the SAVAK agency in Evin Prison in the city of Tehran. In March 1976, he was released from Evin Prison, and in May 1976, he moved to the Republic of Austria and settled there as a refugee. In 1976, he became a member of the Provisional Leadership of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (Berlin Conference). In 1976, he became the official in charge of the Sixth Branch Committee of Europe. On August 7, 1979, in the city of Vienna, he was subjected to a hail of bullets by Iraqi intelligence men and was wounded.

In 1979, he joined the ranks of the Peshmerga forces for the second time. In 1979, he participated in the Shawan meeting of the Kurdistan Democratic Party and was elected as a member of the Political Bureau of the Provisional Leadership of the Kurdistan Democratic Party . In 1979, he was a representative of the 9th Congress of the Kurdistan Democratic Party  . In 1992, during the sovereignty phase, he returned to Southern Kurdistan. On March 27, 1992, he was a member of the advisory board of the Iraqi Opposition Congress (Masif Salahaddin Congress). In 1994, he was an advisor to President Masoud Barzani. In 2001, in the city of Erbil, he presented lectures on the Provisional Leadership of the Kurdistan Democratic Party to the students of the twelfth session of the Cadre Institute of the Kurdistan Democratic Party . On December 15, 2005, he was elected as a member of the Iraqi National Assembly on the Kurdistan Alliance list.

Sources:

  1. Archive of the Kurdistan Democratic Party Encyclopedia Board

  2. The remains of the late Muhammad Raza Arif were laid to rest in the village of Sargalu, Khabat Newspaper, organ of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, No. 6018, Erbil, Wednesday, October 7, 2020 AD, pp. 1, 4.

  3. Thank you note, Khabat Newspaper, organ of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, No. 6018, Erbil, Wednesday, October 7, 2020 AD, p. 4.

  4. Ali Sinjari, The Kurdish Issue and the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party in Iraq, Part Three, (Duhok - Khani Press - 2012 AD), p. 255.

  5. Jawhar Namiq Salim, The Kurdish Experience in its Pendulum Movement, Volume Three, (Erbil - Aras Printing and Publishing House - Aras Press - 2011 AD), pp. 289-292, 298.

  6. Asad Ado, Continuing or Resurgence of the Revolution, Brayati Newspaper, Organ of Kurdistan Democratic Party, No. 1651, Erbil, Saturday, 22 May 1993, p. 3.

  7. Muhammad Reza, Intellectuals must set a limit for Ocalan, Brayati Newspaper, Organ of Kurdistan Democratic Party - Unified, No. 2752, Erbil, Thursday, 7 January 1999, p. 4.

  8. Ismail Tanya, The Kurdistan Socialist Party, Rise.. Fall.. Dispersion, (Erbil - Rojhalat Printing House - 2019), pp. 23, 26.

  9. Meeting between the Yugoslav delegation and the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Al-Taakhi Newspaper, No. 1007, Baghdad, Al-Times Printing House, Wednesday, 12 April 1972, p. 4.

  10. Brayati at the headquarters of our party's Fifth Branch, Brayati Newspaper, Organ of Kurdistan Democratic Party, No. 64, Friday, 17 August 1973, p. 3. 

  11. Habib Muhammad Karim, History of the Kurdistan Democratic Party - Iraq (In Key Stations) 1946 - 1993, (Duhok - Khabat Printing House - 1998), pp. 147, 152. 

  12. The War on Iraq: Diaries - Documents - Reports 1990 - 2005, (Beirut - Centre for Arab Unity Studies - 2007), p. 1240.

  13. History of the Party Cadre Courses, From the Mountain to the City, (Erbil - Party Studies and Research Center and Academy - Rojhalat Printing House - 2019), p. 106.

  14. Head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party delegation to the Conference for Supporting the Palestinian Revolution, Al-Taakhi Newspaper, No. 1207, Baghdad, Al-Times Printing House, Saturday, 9 December 1972, pp. 5, 7.

  15. Zahir Rojbayani, At the end of April 1975, we held the first meeting of our Provisional Leadership, Brayati Newspaper, Organ of Kurdistan Democratic Party, No. 2338, Erbil, Tuesday, 27 May 1997, p. 5.

  16. Zahir Rojbayani, Muhammad Reza: The immortal Barzani, to free us from the terrible (Evin) prison in Tehran, suggested that they put the ever-living Kak Idris and Kak Masoud Barzani in our place, Brayati Newspaper, Organ of Kurdistan Democratic Party, No. 2338, Erbil, Tuesday, 27 May 1997, p. 4. 

  17. Travel of the Kurdistan Democratic Party delegation to Beirut, Al-Taakhi Newspaper, No. 1197, Baghdad, Al-Times Printing House, Monday, 27 November 1972, p. 4.

  18. Ali Sinjari, The Kurdish Issue and the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party in Iraq, Part Three, (Duhok - Khani Printing House - 2012), p. 255.

  19. Ali Kamal Barzi, Famous Kurdish Personalities in the Twentieth Century, Volume One, (Erbil - Barzi Project - University Printing House - 1999), pp. 263 - 265. 

  20. Speech of the Kurdistan Democratic Party in Iraq at the Arab Popular Conference for Supporting the Palestinian Revolution, Al-Taakhi Newspaper, No. 1206, Baghdad, Al-Times Printing House, Thursday, 7 December 1972, p. 1.

  21. Muhammad Reza Arif, Candidate No. 6 in Sulaymaniyah Governorate: I will work to develop the agricultural sector and achieve the rights of farmers, Khabat Newspaper, Organ of Kurdistan Democratic Party, No. 3407, Tuesday, 23 February 2010, p. 6.

  22. Muhammad Reza, The March 11 Agreement moved the Kurdish people from one stage to a new and bright stage, Brayati Newspaper, Organ of Kurdistan Democratic Party, No. 3328, Erbil, Sunday, 11 March 2001, p. 3.

  23. Muhammad Ali Ismail, My Memoirs: Seventy Years of Life and More Than Half a Century of Struggle, (No Place - 2019), p. 58.

  24. Masoud Barzani, Barzani and the Kurdish Liberation Movement, Volume Three, Second Edition, (Erbil - Ministry of Education Printing House - 2002), p. 407.

  25. The Arab Front delegation participating in the Palestinian Revolution meets with the Kurdistan Democratic Party delegation, Al-Taakhi Newspaper, No. 1356, Baghdad, Al-Times Printing House, Tuesday, 12 June 1973, p. 4.

  26. The Arab Front delegation participating in the Palestinian Revolution meets with a delegation from the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Al-Taakhi Newspaper, No. 1356, Baghdad, Al-Times Printing House, Tuesday, 12 June 1973, p. 4.