The emergence of the "Barzani family" on the political scene dates back to the second half of the nineteenth century; that is, to the time when the Barzan region and Southern Kurdistan were an occupied part of the Ottoman Empire. The Kurdish liberationist thought and the struggle for the sake of Kurdistan, by the "Barzani family", began at the hands of Sheikh Abdulsalam I and later reached its turning point at the hands of Sheikh Abdulsalam II, due to the existence of oppression and tyranny by the Ottoman authorities and the imposition of heavy taxes and tributes on the people. Because the Sheikhs of Barzan were the leaders and pioneers of the suffering and poor people of the region and their reputation for social justice had resonated, the entire population of the area considered the Sheikhs of Barzan as their leaders and guides, and they took the task of leading and commanding revolutions and uprisings as a responsibility upon themselves, and in this regard, they recorded a glorious history.

The relationship of the Barzani Sheikhs with the outside world, and especially with those centers that sought to confront oppression and injustice, was one of the foundations of the Barzani Sheikhdom. It is for this very reason that there was a good relationship between the Barzani Sheikhs and the Nehri family; when the revolution of Sheikh Ubeydullah breaks out, Sheikh Abdulsalam I supports the revolution. This was for two reasons: First, to help the Kurds. Second, because the Barzan region was similarly under the oppression, tyranny, and taxes and tributes of the Ottomans.

 The Ottomans continued their previous policy in Kurdistan, and this time Sheikh Abdulsalam II rose up against them and took control of the region. This hegemony and authority of Sheikh Abdulsalam II was not accepted by the Ottomans, and because of it, they attacked Barzan. After several attempts at resistance, Sheikh Abdulsalam took refuge with the Shekak tribe in Eastern Kurdistan, but later, due to betrayal, he fell into the hands of the Ottomans, and in 1914, along with three of his companions, a death sentence was issued for him, and they were executed together.

After the execution of Sheikh Abdulsalam II, the leadership of the Barzani family fell to his brother, Sheikh Ahmed. When in 1918 the sick Ottoman state was erased from the pages of time and the British occupied Iraq and created a new independent state within it, Sheikh Ahmed, who was the successor to his older brother's path, relying on the same principles as his, did not agree with the existence of the authority and hegemony of the British and joining Iraq, so he continued the revolutions and uprisings of Barzan and from 1919 he entered into revolution and uprising. The British, who did not want any obstacles in front of the new Iraqi state, in 1927, along with their affiliated Iraqi forces, attacked Sheikh Ahmed and the Barzan region. Sheikh Ahmed, relying on his Barzani fighters, not only confronted the British and the Iraqi army, but in 1931, to help the Ararat revolution, he also sent a force to Northern Kurdistan. In the same year, with the help of the British, an Iraqi force and tribes hostile to Sheikh Ahmed besieged the Barzan region. Sheikh Ahmed of Barzan entrusted the leadership of the defense of his region to his younger brother, that is, to Mulla Mustafa Barzani. Mulla Mustafa Barzani as a young and capable leader, very bravely and fearlessly confronted the force and was able to defeat them, and in his first experience of armed struggle, he achieved a great victory.

The root of the independence-seeking thought of the Barzani family came from the depth of that national and patriotic feeling that, like a fire, they lit on the mountains of Barzan and illuminated the darkest corners of Kurdistan with it. It originated from that shining sun of our flag which they, with the intention of liberating the Kurdish people from the tyranny and oppression of the Ottoman authorities and after that the occupying governments of Kurdistan, placed under the breeze of freedom.

Mulla Mustafa Barzani, in 1919, when he was still 16 years old, was sent by his brother Sheikh Ahmed to lead a force to the city of Sulaymaniyah to help Sheikh Mahmud Hafid. At the age of 28, and in the first Barzan revolution in 1931-1932, he was given the leadership of a force by his brother Sheikh Ahmed to confront the Iraqi forces and those tribes that fought against the Barzanis with the Iraqi government with the support of the British; in both the battles of "Barqi Beg" and "Doli Vaje", he was able to achieve a great victory and gained a bright name and reputation. Later, along with his brother Sheikh Ahmed, they took refuge in Northern Kurdistan, and in 1936, they were handed over to the Iraqi government by the Turks. Then, he went to Mosul for negotiations with the Mutasarrif, and there he was poisoned by their institutions, but he survived miraculously. After their arrest, they were transferred to the cities of Nasiriyah, Hilla, Diwaniyah, Kirkuk, and later Sulaymaniyah, and they remained in that city until 1943, but in an opportunity, Mulla Mustafa Barzani secretly returned to Barzan from Eastern Kurdistan, and the Iraqi government, with the intention of capturing him, attacked Barzan several times, but it was to no avail, and in all the confrontations, Mulla Mustafa was victorious and gained more fame and support. Even the Hiwa Party supported and backed Mulla Mustafa, and for the first time, the Iraqi government was forced to negotiate with Mulla Mustafa. After this negotiation, and in 1944, Sheikh Ahmed Barzani returned to Barzan.

In 1945, once again, fighting broke out between the forces of Mulla Mustafa Barzani and the government of Iraq, and as always, the forces of the Iraqi government were defeated very severely, and Mulla Mustafa Barzani and his forces were victorious. In this year, several famous battles took place, which are the battles of Nahla, Pirs, Hawdian, Mazna, and Haran. In the end, once again, due to the support of British warplanes and the regional and international Situation at the end of the Second World War, the Iraqi force regained control over the region, and Sheikh Ahmed and Mulla Mustafa decided to head to Eastern Kurdistan.

On 11/10/1945, Mulla Mustafa Barzani, along with a large group of his companions and the Barzani families, went to Eastern Kurdistan, and there, with his presence, on 22/1/1946, the Republic of Kurdistan was established at the hands of Peshwa Qazi Muhammad in Mahabad. In the Republic of Kurdistan, he was granted the rank of General and Commander of the Kurdistan Army, and the best and most disciplined armed force in the Republic was the force of Mulla Mustafa Barzani, who bore the burden of protecting the Republic, and also the major battles were on the shoulders of the Barzanis, and they were able to defeat the Iranian forces in several battles and confrontations.

After the fall of the Republic of Kurdistan in January 1946, Mulla Mustafa Barzani faced the Iranian forces and continued fighting against them until 1947. Later, through the forces of three occupiers, he chose the path to the Soviet Union, and accompanied by 518 people, with a solid military and partisan plan, he crossed the Aras River and was able to reach the territory of the Soviet Union.

On 18/6/1947, Barzani crossed the Aras River and entered the territory of the Soviet Union. From here, a new phase began in the life of Barzani and the Barzanis, and they were granted the right of political asylum. In 1948, at the Baku Conference, the joint political leadership for the Kurdish liberation movement was designated. After experiencing hardship and a separation full of difficulty and adversity due to Bagirov's policies, some of them engaged in studies and others in agricultural work. Mulla Mustafa Barzani, as his usual profession, was engaged in diplomatic work, meetings, and visits with senior officials of the Soviet Union, and in addition to this, he went to study and learned the Russian language.

After the change of the system of governance in Iraq from a monarchy to a republic, the Situation of all of Iraq changed, and Mulla Mustafa Barzani s, a few months after the revolution, on October 6, 1958, in an unprecedented reception by all segments and strata of Iraq, returned to Iraqi territory as a national hero.

On 16/8/1946 in Baghdad, the "Kurdistan Democratic Party" was established, which later became the Kurdistan Democratic Party. Despite the absence of Mulla Mustafa Barzani at the first congress, he was elected by the congress members as the head of the Party. In addition to the leadership of the Party, after their return from the Soviet Union, Mulla Mustafa Barzani, from 11/9/1961 to 6/3/1975, for a period of 14 years, led Aylul Revolution which, the greatest achievement of this revolution was the March 11, 1970 Agreement, and it was under the pressures of this revolution that the government of Iraq recognized the right of autonomy for Kurds in Southern Kurdistan. The most prominent and important point in the establishment of the Party and the emergence of the Aylul Revolution is that all Kurds, with different colors, voices, and forms, with all the segments and strata of Kurdistan, without distinction, gathered under the umbrella of the leadership of Mulla Mustafa Barzani. Throughout that period, except for some conspiracies and obstacles, the Kurds were to a good extent one voice and one color, and this was due to the charisma of Mulla Mustafa in leading the Kurdish liberation movement.

Throughout the 14-year period of Aylul Revolution, several major battles, disasters, and unwanted events, confrontations, and negotiations took place between the leadership of the revolution and the central government, such as the Battle of Handren on 12/5/1966, the attempt to assassinate Mulla Mustafa Barzani on 29/9/1971, the bombing of Qaladiza on 24/4/1974, the ceasefire agreement between Mulla Mustafa Barzani and Abdulsalam Arif, the President of Iraq, on 10/2/1964, as well as the signing of the ceasefire agreement between Mulla Mustafa Barzani and Abdulrahman Arif, the President of Iraq, on 29/6/1966, and finally the signing of the March 11, 1970 Agreement, which was a recognition of the right of autonomy for Kurdistan. This was the first official recognition by the Iraqi government for the self-rule of Kurds in Southern Kurdistan, and it was also the first recognition by one of the occupying states of Kurdistan of a part of the rights of the Kurds.

Due to the interests of regional countries with the support of superpowers and because of the ominous Algiers Agreement between Iraq and Iran through the mediation of Algeria, on 6/3/1975, the Aylul Revolution suffered a setback. So, in order not to cause great harm to the Kurdish people, Mulla Mustafa Barzani agreed to dissolve his revolution. Thus, the Aylul Revolution ended as the longest Kurdish revolution in contemporary history.

After the setback of Aylul Revolution, Mulla Mustafa Barzani headed to Iran and later went to America for medical treatment. There, he underwent medical examinations, and it was revealed that he had contracted cancer and the Illness had covered his entire body, so between life and death, he only had to wait for time. Thus, he remained under treatment until 1/3/1979, when at the age of 76, he said farewell completely and was buried in trust in the city of Oshnavieh in Eastern Kurdistan. After the spring uprising of 1991 in Southern Kurdistan, on 6/10/1993, the remains of Mulla Mustafa Barzani and Idris Barzani, his son, were brought back to Southern Kurdistan in a magnificent procession from the city of Oshnavieh in Eastern Kurdistan, and after a nationwide reception, with one voice and color from Penjwen, Sulaymaniyah, Erbil, and Duhok, as a national leader, on 8/10/1993, they were buried forever in the land of their fathers and grandfathers, in the defiant Barzan, the cradle of resistance.

Just as this movement began at the hands of Sheikh Abdulsalam II and reached its peak at the hands of Mulla Mustafa Barzani, undoubtedly after his passing, this movement and resistance of Barzan continued. On 26/5/1976, upon the recommendation of Mulla Mustafa Barzani, the provisional leadership of the Kurdistan Democratic Party was formed, and under the leadership of Masoud Barzani and Idris Barzani Gulan Revolution broke out. Although on 31/1/1987 Idris Mustafa Barzani, the architect of the establishment and formation of the Kurdistan Front, passed away, the revolution did not stop, and Masoud Barzani was able to lead the movement and record great victories, among the most prominent of which was Gulan Revolution was the Battle of Khwakurk, which took place on 19/7/1988, under the direct leadership of President Masoud Barzani. This battle continued for 39 days and ended with the victory of the Peshmerga forces over the Ba'athist occupying army.

President Masoud Barzani, from the front lines of this battle, gave the glad tidings of major changes in the region to the people of Kurdistan; it did not take long, and after a few years full of hardship and misery following these words of the President, on 5/3/1991, the uprising of the people of Kurdistan began, and by 21/3/1991, most of the territory of Kurdistan, including Kirkuk, was liberated from the hands of the Ba'ath regime. In the same year, President Masoud Barzani, in a public meeting in the city of Koya, emphasized that the Kurds must enter the democratic process and that elections must be held for the civil governance of Kurdistan. Thus, on 19/5/1992, the first election of Kurdistan was held, and the Parliament and Government of the Kurdistan Region were established. One of the important and major achievements of this parliament was the decision for federalism for Southern Kurdistan on 4/10/1992. This was a great achievement for the Kurdish people. This federalism continued at the Kurdistan level until it later became a model for Iraq after the Ba'ath regime. Thus, in 2005, in the first clause of Article One of the Constitution of Iraq, the federal system for Iraq was officially established, and through the continuous struggle of the Kurds, Iraq became a federal state, and the peoples of Iraq also voted for this constitution in a general referendum on 15/10/2005.

By reading the course of events and the history of the Kurdish liberation movement, we see that both Mulla Mustafa Barzani and President Masoud Barzani, according to the different eras and stages of their national struggle, wisely dealt with the national demands of the Kurds. The beginning of the demands consisted of requesting self-rule (autonomy), which Iraq recognized in the March 1970 agreement; after the uprising, the demands became the establishment of a federal system, which was enshrined in the new Iraqi constitution. After this, the Kurdish demand, as its legitimate right, reached the final point, which is the stage of state-building. Thus, President Masoud Barzani, as the President of the Kurdistan Region, decided to hold a referendum on 25/9/2017 within the entire geographical border of Southern Kurdistan to assess the independence desire of the people of Southern Kurdistan. On 7/6/2017, most of the political parties of Kurdistan supported President Barzani's decision that the people of Kurdistan must decide on independence or its rejection. In this way, on the same decided date, the Kurdistan referendum was held, and the (Yes) vote for the independence of Kurdistan won 92.73% of the votes of the people of Southern Kurdistan, and thus the referendum succeeded and became a political document and a strong winning card on the negotiating table for the future of Kurdistan.

 

Sources
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  3. Fereydun Nuri, The Barzani Movement, First Edition, Aras Institution, Erbil, 2007.
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