Mustafa Rashid Sofi was born in 1917 in the village of Lelok, affiliated with the Mazne sub-district of the Mergasor district in Erbil Governorate. He was married, had two sons, and knew the Kurdish and Russian languages. In 1945, after the collapse of the Second Barzan Revolution, he became a refugee in Eastern Kurdistan. In 1959, after returning from the former Soviet Union, he was employed as an official in the Bakrajo Agricultural Department in Sulaymaniyah. In 1975, after the collapse of the Aylul Revolution he became a refugee in the country of Iran and settled in the Rabet complex, later moving to Kerman. In 1979, after the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran, he returned to Eastern Kurdistan and settled in the city of Naghadeh. In 1993, after the popular uprising in Southern Kurdistan, he returned to Kurdistan and settled in the village of Lelok. He passed away on March 10, 2003, and was buried in the cemetery of the village of Lelok.
Struggle RecordIn 1943, he established a relationship with the Second Barzan Revolution and became a Peshmerga. He participated in the famous battle of Meydan Morik and was one of the fighters of the Barzan force in the Republic of Kurdistan in Mahabad, participating in the battles against the attacks of the Iranian army on the Republic.
On May 22, 1947, he accompanied General Mustafa Barzani towards the Soviet Union and participated in the battle of the Kotol (Qotur) valley and the battle of the Maku bridge. After much hardship and fatigue, on June 18, 1947, he crossed the Aras River, which is located on the border between Iran and the Soviet Union, into the Soviet Union.
After arriving in the Soviet Union, on June 19, 1947, along with all his companions, they were placed in the city of "Nakhchivan" in the Republic of Azerbaijan for forty days in an open-air compound surrounded by barbed wire. They were guarded by a group of soldiers and were treated like prisoners of war in terms of food, clothing, and movement. Later, by the decision of the Soviet government, they were distributed among the regions of Aghdam, Lachin, Ayolakh, and Kalbajar in the Republic of Azerbaijan. On December 10, 1947, they were transferred to a military camp on the Caspian Sea in Baku, the capital of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and on the 23rd of the same month, they were given military uniforms and, under the supervision of the officers of the Republic of Azerbaijan, were given eight hours of military training daily. At the same time, for four hours a day, they were taught Kurdish language lessons by some of their companions who were literate.
After the poor treatment of Barzani's companions by Jafar Baghirov, it was decided that the military camp would be moved on August 29, 1948, from the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Charchuk complex near "Tashkent," the capital of the Republic of Uzbekistan, where they continued their military training.
In March 1949, along with his companions, they were distributed in groups and squads by train among the collective farms of the Soviet Union and worked in the Kolkhoz fields (lands that people rented from the government and later returned the government's share).
After much effort and sending several letters by General Barzani to Stalin, a letter finally reached Stalin in which Barzani described the hardships of his companions, and he immediately decided to form a committee to investigate the situation of Barzani's companions. Eventually, the committee's decision was for them all to be gathered in the city of Vrevsky, so Mustafa Rashid Sofi went to the city of Vrevsky in the Soviet Union in November 1951.
In 1958, the Republic of Iraq was established under the presidency of Abdul Karim Qasim. On April 16, 1959, Mustafa Rashid Sofi, along with his companions, returned to Kurdistan via the port of Basra in the south of the Republic of Iraq on the ship Georgia.
In 1961, he established a relationship with the Peshmerga Forces of the Aylul Revolution and became a Peshmerga under Uzair Dolemari. In 1964, he went with his force to the Balakayati region and participated in the battles. He was wounded twice: in 1963 in the battle of Hassan Beg and in 1966 during the attack of the army and the mercenaries on Qalacholan.
In 1976, he established a relationship with the Peshmerga Forces of the Gulan Revolution and became a Peshmerga under Hali Dolemari and participated in the battles. Due to his advanced age, he did not participate in the activities inside Kurdistan.
On July 18, 1996, due to his services, he was awarded the Barzani Medal by President Masoud Barzani .
Sources:1- Hamid Gawhari, The Barzani Medal is the highest honor award, Volume One, (Erbil - Haji Hashim Printing House - 2015).
2- Hamid Gardi, Summary of History, First Edition, (Erbil - Aras Printing and Publishing House - Ministry of Education Printing House - 2004).
3- Shaban Ali Shaban, Some Political and Historical Information, Third Edition, (Erbil - Rojhalat Printing House - 2013).
4- Omar Farouk, Sardar Dana: Life and Struggles of the late Mullah Mustafa Barzani, Second Edition, (Erbil - Ministry of Education Printing House - 2002).
5- Abdulrahman Mullah Habib Abu Bakr, The Barzan Tribe between 1931-1991, First Edition, (Erbil - Ministry of Culture Printing House - 2001).
6- Abdullah Ghafoor, Geographical Dictionary of Erbil, (Erbil - Publications of the Kurdish Academy - Haji Hashim Printing House - 2015).
7- Karwan Muhammad Majid, The Barzanis from Mahabad to the Soviet Union, First Edition, (Sulaymaniyah - Paywand Printing House - 2011).
8- From the memoirs of the martyr commander Haso Mirxan Zhazhoki, 62 days with Barzani: The going of the Barzanis to the Soviet Union, First Edition, (Erbil - Culture Printing House - 1997).
9- Laith Abdul-Muhsin Jawad Al-Zubaidi, The July 14, 1958 Revolution in Iraq, (Baghdad - Dar Al-Rashid for Publishing - 1979).
10- Masoud Barzani, Barzani and the Kurdish Liberation Movement 1931-1958, (Duhok - Khabat Printing House - 1998).
11- Najaf Qoli Pesyan, From Bloody Mahabad to the Banks of the Aras, trans. Shawkat Sheikh Yazdin, First Edition, (Pirmam - Golden Jubilee of the Kurdistan Democratic Party - 1996).
12- Archive of the Encyclopedia Board of the Kurdistan Democratic Party.