Qasim implemented a series of policies in domestic and diplomatic areas, including improving the relationship between the Arabs and the Kurds.
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In July 1958, the Iraqi Faisal Dynasty was overthrown in a coup d’état staged by the Free Officers led by Iraqi Army brigadier Abd al-Karim Qasim and the Republic of Iraq was established. The KDP’s operation has gone underground since then. Muhammad was captured and hanged while Barzani was exiled to the Soviet Union. In December 1946, the Pahlavi Dynasty sent a large number of forces to wipe out the “Mahabad Republic,” killing and capturing a legion of KDP key members. On August 16, 1946, Barzani was elected chair of the KDP in absentia and since then he has taken effective control of the party.
Their goal was to overthrow the Iranian and Iraqi feudal dynasties, and ultimately establish a unified Kurdistan Republic, of which the “Mahabad Republic” was the initial stage according to the party’s manifesto. Barzani was appointed commander of the Kurdish forces. The KDP announced the establishment of the “Mahabad Republic,” and elected Muhammad chair of the party and “president” of the republic. Qazi Muhammad was the head of the Iranian committee and Mustafa Barzani was in charge of the Iraqi one. In December 1945, under Soviet auspices, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) was established in Mahabad, including an Iranian committee and an Iraqi committee. The Kurdish political forces in the four countries have used it as a legal justification for an independent Kurdish state.Īt the end of WWII, the Kurdistan independence movement became a bargaining chip for the United States and the Soviet Union to compete for sphere of influence in the Middle East. The treaty was signed by the Ottoman Empire and the Entente powers following the Ottoman defeat in WWI, and is now the only document of international law concerning Kurdish autonomy or independence. Although this uprising was put down by the Ottoman Empire and the Qajar dynasty of Persia collectively, the Kurds were allowed by the Treaty of Sevres in 1919 to establish autonomous regions or independent countries to the east of the Euphrates, the south of Armenia and the north of Syria and Iraq where the majority of Kurdish people live. In 1880, Sheikh Ubeydullah, hailed as a hero by the Kurdish people, led the Kurds to uprise simultaneously in eastern and southeastern Turkey and in northwestern Iran, swearing to fight to the end for an independent Kurdistan. Over time, their independence movements have developed to a greater scale and from ideological mobilization to military struggle. The Kurds have been seeking to establish an independent Kurdistan state since the Ottoman Empire era. Besides, about 2 million Kurds have settled in or been stranded in 18 countries in Europe, Transcaucasia and North America. The eastern and southeastern parts of Turkey are called “North Kurdistan,” an area of about 190,000 square kilometers with a Kurdish population of about 15 million northern Iraq is known as “South Kurdistan,” an area of about 125,000 square kilometers with about 7 million Kurds the northeastern region of Syria is known as “West Kurdistan” or “Rojava Kurdistan,” an area of about 12,000 square kilometers with a Kurdish population of about 2 million the northwestern region of Iran is called “East Kurdistan,” an area of about 65,000 square kilometers with about 4 million Kurds. According to the demographic statistics of the four countries in recent years, the number of Kurds in the four countries totals about 28 million. The Kurds are an ancient ethnic group living in the Middle East, with a recorded history dating back to the 3rd century BC, and the region inhabited by them, called Kurdistan, covers a total area of 392,000 square kilometers, including parts of Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran. A scholarly reflection of the current trend would help us understand more deeply the great power competition and transfer as well as hotspot issues in the broader Middle East region.ĭevelopment of the Kurdish Independence Movement With the idea and movement of Kurdish independence on rapid rise in recent years, it has been a major variable that would affect the evolution of regional power structure. Relevant academic studies in the past has mostly focused on historical, ethnic and international relations aspects of the issue. The Kurdish issue has long haunted the Middle East, reflecting the complex regional ethnic conflicts that has given rise to the Kurdish resistance and independence movement.
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