Kurdistan Democratic Party
Kurdistan Democratic Party پارتی دیموکراتی کوردستان Partiya Demokrat a Kurdistanê | |
---|---|
President | Masoud Barzani |
Founder | Mustafa Barzani |
Founded | 16 August 1946 |
Headquarters | Pirmam, Kurdistan Region, Iraq |
Ideology | Kurdish nationalism[1] Republicanism[2] Conservatism[3] Secularism[4] Atlanticism[5] |
Political position | Big tent[6] |
Colours | Yellow |
Council of Representatives of Iraq[a] | 31 / 329 |
Kurdistan Region Parliament[7] | 45 / 111 |
Party flag | |
Website | |
kdp.info | |
The Kurdistan Democratic Party (
The KDP is dominated by the
History
Foundation
In 1946, the leader of the Soviet-backed
It was "well-known in nationalist circles that the relations between the two men [Barzani and Qazi] were not easy".
Nevertheless, Barzani's manoeuvrings were successful and he split Rizgari, even gaining support from committed leftists because of the wide popularity he enjoyed amongst Kurdish people, and his position as chief notable of the tribal elders, who it was argued, the nationalist movement needed on their side if it were to be militarily successful.[10]
The new KDP of Iraq held its first congress in Baghdad on August 16, 1946. The 32 delegates elected a central committee with Hamza Abdullah as secretary-general, Shaykh Latif and Kaka Ziad Agha as vice-presidents, and Barzani as president-in-exile. The party demanded autonomy for Iraqi Kurdistan, stating that the political and economic situation of the Kurds in Iraq was different from that of Iran. The party programme was not specific about any social or economic content for fear of alienating the highly conservative tribal chiefs and landlords who had agreed to support it.[10]
Consolidation
After the collapse of the Mahabad republic in early 1947, Ibrahim Ahmad, previously the Sulaymaniyah representative of the Iranian KDP (KDP-I), joined the Iraqi KDP. Ahmad was a highly influential Leftist intellectual, who by 1951 had succeeded in rallying most of the Iraqi Kurdish leftist-nationalists to the KDP, which in turn, took the opportunity to convene a second party congress and duly elect Ahmad as secretary-general (effectively acting chairman).[11]
Throughout the late 1940s and early 1950s, the KDP and the Kurdish members of the Iraqi Communist Party steadily increased their working relationship – in many cases fielding joint candidates. The ICP campaigned directly against the aghas (tribal elders) and won the support of the workers in the cities of Erbil, Duhok, and Sulaymaniyah – while the KDP reassured the aghas that the ICP was ultimately under their control. By 1954 the KDP was advocating the replacement of the Iraqi monarchy with a popular democratic republic – much to the consternation of many of their tribal supporters.[12]
Indeed, in 1956, the antagonism between the Kurdish aghas and the KDP-ICP reached such a height that emissaries for the former contacted the British consul in Mosul requesting arms and finance to establish an "anti-Communist and independent Kurdistan" in northern Iraq.[13]
Under revolutionary Iraq
On July 14, 1958, Brigadier
Ibrahim Ahmad attempted to pressure Qasim into including Kurdish autonomy in the Provisional Constitution. However, Qasim was under much greater pressure from his deputy Abdul Salam Arif and other pan-Arab Nationalists – not least the Ba'ath – who wanted to take Iraq into the United Arab Republic (UAR). They objected to Qasim's apparently pro-Kurdish attitude and his friendliness towards Mustafa Barzani in particular.[15]
Qasim and Mulla Mustafa had developed a close relationship, as Qasim saw in Barzani a powerful military ally that he could employ as a counterweight to the pan-Arab nationalists, who, he feared, threatened to subvert Iraq to Nasser's Egypt. Qasim had officially named him Chairman of the KDP (a position he held on paper since the party's founding), gave him one of
Qasim used an almost identical event that July, but this time in Kirkuk, as a pretext to act against the KDP's closest allies, the Communists. In 1959 half of the 150,000 population of Kirkuk was Iraqi Turkmen, with the balance comprising Kurds, Arabs, Assyrians, and Armenians (in that order). Mulla Mustafa's triumphal visit to the city the previous October had resulted in bloodshed, but this time killings were carried out by Communist and Kurdish members of a group called the "Popular Resistance Force", who attacked shops and their owners. As many as 50 Turkmen were killed. Qasim held the Communists responsible and claimed to have uncovered plans for a similar action in Baghdad. During the next few months, Mulla Mustafa helped Qasim reduce the ICP and there was open conflict in Iraqi Kurdistan between the KDP, backed by Kurdish tribesmen, and the Kurdish Communists.[16]
Meanwhile, an ideological rift developed in the KDP between the intellectual and leftists Ibrahim Ahmad and Jalal Talabani on the one hand, and Mulla Mustafa and the Barzanis on the other. Mulla Mustafa "talked freely, with a bitterness amounting to hatred, against the... intellectual presumptuousness of the KDP politicians, singling out Ibrahim Ahmad for his particular dislike". While Ahmad complained of Mulla Mustafa's "selfishness, arbitrariness, unfairness, tribal backwardness and even his dishonesty." But while each wanted to reduce the others' influence in the KDP, each also knew that the other was indispensable in securing the loyalty of their respective support-bases – the tribal villagers and nomads for Barzani, and the urban and educated for Ahmad/Talabani.[17]
During the 1950s, Mulla Mustafa strengthened his position by eliminating the forces of rival tribes – the Harkis, Surchis, Baradustis, and Zibaris. Qasim urged restraint, but Mulla Mustafa pressed on regardless, a much intertribal bloodletting followed, eventually taking such scalps as Ahmad Muhammad Agha, chief of the Zibaris.[17]
As a result of this and past violence in Mosul and Kirkuk, Qasim slowly began to distance himself from the Mulla Mustafa and the KDP, and in a 1960 speech publicly disparaged the Barzani clan.[18] Qasim feared Barzani hegemony and began supporting the Harki and Zibari tribes against Mulla Mustafa. The Kurds for their part, in particular Ibrahim Ahmad and Jalal Talabani, felt increasingly frustrated that Qasim had taken no practical steps towards Kurdish autonomy.
Kurdistan slowly and almost inadvertently headed towards revolt, and between 1961 and 1963, violence engulfed Kurdistan and the longstanding divisions between the socialist-nationalists such as Talabani, and Mulla Mustafa and the old tribal Aghas solidified as they disagreed as to how to conduct the revolt and for what purpose. Mullah Mustafa unsuccessfully sought the assistance first of Britain, and then the USA – which lost him any of the remaining allies he had in the Iraqi Communist Party. The whole country descended into chaos as a quarter of the villages of Kurdistan were attacked and 80,000 refugees created.[19] Qasim not only lost control of the mountains of Kurdistan, but was being isolated politically in Baghdad by the pan-Arab nationalists, and it seemed only a matter of time before he lost power.[20]
Early Ba'ath Party rule
The KDP, together with many other Kurds, welcomed the
The first Ba'ath government was overthrown and replaced by a "National Command of the Revolutionary Council" (NCRC) led by Abdul Salam Arif. While this regime's ideology was essentially the same, it favored peace with the Kurds as the war had been costly and unpopular. Indeed, Arif had contacted Mulla Mustafa before the coup in order to elicit his co-operation to resist the Baath offensive until he could oust them himself.[22]
Mulla Mustafa signed an agreement with Arif in his personal capacity, rather than as president of the KDP. This infuriated Ibrahim Ahmad and Jalal Talabani as the agreement omitted any mention of self-administration, let alone autonomy – the whole point for which they had been fighting. Arif threatened force against any Kurdish opponent of Mulla Mustafa, while Mulla Mustafa declared that any resistance to Baghdad would constitute a declaration of war against himself and the Barzanis.[23] Mulla Mustafa informed Arif that he had no objection to the abolition of Kurdish political parties, so long as it served the "interests of Iraq", and began to receive arms and funds from Abdul Salam Arif.
Yet again, the Kurdish political scene was divided between the intelligentsia of Ibrahim Ahmad and Jalal Talabani who decried this complicity, and as they saw it, submission to Baghdad, and Mulla Mustafa who rallied the conservatives and tribal leaders to his side. Furious debates and campaigning followed, but Ahmad's and Talabani's arguments could not dislodge Mulla Mustafa's position as the popular figurehead of the Kurdish people. Mulla Mustafa would accept not dissent, and, fearing for their lives, Ahmad and his followers slipped away at night from a heated discussion with Mulla Mustafa, and retreated back to their stronghold in Mawat.[24]
At the sixth Party Congress of the KDP in July 1964, representatives from the Ahmad-Talabani faction were promptly arrested upon arrival. A few fays later Mulla Mustafa sent his son, Idris Barzani with a large force to drive Ahmad, Talabani, and their 4,000 or so followers into exile in Iran. With that, Mulla Mustafa had finally achieved undisputed control of the KDP.[24]
In the ensuing four years until the next Ba'ath coup, the Kurds continued their guerrilla war against the Iraqi regime. By 1966, Mulla Mustafa had enlisted the support of Baghdad's two foremost ideological enemies – Iran and Israel. He believed these two countries, in addition to the United States, would ultimately help him win independence from Baghdad.[25]
In 1968, the second Ba'ath Coup was successful, and an agreement called the Bazzaz Declaration was reached between the KDP and the Ba'ath. Although Ba'ath Party founder Michel Aflaq called for equal rights for all ethnic and religious minorities under Arab rule, in practice the new regime ultimately became more chauvinist than any before. The Arab nationalists had not forgotten the atrocities they suffered at the hands of the Mulla Mustafa and the Barzanis in 1959. One of the Baath's leading advocates of a more considered and amenable approach to the Kurdish question in these early days was Saddam Hussein.[26] Ahmad and Talabani also welcomed the new Ba'ath regime, as they felt more at home with its socialist ethos than any previous Baghdad government.
Nevertheless, Baghdad was growing apprehensive with regards to Iran's continued involvement in Kurdistan – including supplying sophisticated artillery to Mulla Mustafa – and its recent claim to sovereignty over Bahrain. In an attempt both at appeasement and to undermine the growing strength of Mullah Mustafa, the Baath government declared its commitment to the 1968 Bazzaz Declaration and announced that Kurdish should be taught in all Iraqi schools and universities; that a new Kurdish university was to be established in Sulaymaniyah; and that Nawruz was to be recognized as a national holiday.[27] Mulla Mustafa pressed on regardless, and shelled the government's oil installations in Kirkuk – much to the embarrassment of Baghdad internationally, particularly with the British-owned Iraqi Petroleum Company.
Talabani and Ahmad then sought the endorsement of the new Ba'ath regime, presenting themselves as both more responsible leaders and closer in ideology to the Ba'ath. In reality both Mulla Mustafa and Ahmad-Talabani jostled for influence and recognition from Baghdad. President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr was trying to consolidate his power in Arab Iraq, especially against the communists, so he ordered his deputy Saddam Hussein to travel to Kurdistan to reach a peace agreement with the Kurds. In 1970, Saddam traveled to Kurdistan to conclude an accord with Mulla Mustafa. A truly democratic, federalist, and equitable 15-point agreement was reached, and the accord concluded with the statement "History will bear witness that you [the Kurds] did not have and never will have as sincere a brother and dependable an ally as the Arab people."[28]
The peace didn't last long. As might be expected, the earliest obstacle was the demographic one. In 1972, when the government proposed to apply the 1957 census figures to Kirkuk, Mullah Mustafa rejected it, knowing that it would show the
Negotiations dragged on, but Mulla Mustafa was unwilling to budge on Kirkuk – despite being advised to do so by his own European advisors.[31]
Emboldened by offers of support from the US, Israel, and Iran, Mulla Mustafa allowed the deadline to expire. This caused several high-ranking KDP Politburo members to defect to the Iraqi National Front in Baghdad. The most significant of these defections was that of Mulla Mustafa's eldest son, Ubayd Allah Barzani, who claimed that his father "does not want self-rule to be implemented even if he were given Kirkuk and all of its oil. His acceptance of the law will take everything from him, and he wants to remain absolute ruler," further condemning his father for failing to implement agrarian reform.[32] Around this same time a section of the KDP (led by Hashim Aqrawi, Ahmad Muhammad Saeed al-Atrushi and Barzanis son Ubaidallah) split to join the Ba'ath-sponsored National Progressive Front.[32]
1974–75 war
With approximately 50,000 trained peshmerga and possibly another 50,000 irregulars at his disposal, Mulla Mustafa was confident in the face of an Iraqi military assault. Against such a force Baghdad could deploy 90,000 troops, but importantly backed by over 1,200 tanks and armored vehicles, and 200 aircraft. With Iranian, as well as covert American and Israeli support, the Peshmerga were able to combat the technologically superior Iraqi army. Iranian support ended when it reached an agreement with Iraq during the OPEC Conference in March 1975, encouraged by the United States, culminating in the 1975 Algiers Agreement. Unable to continue receiving ammunition for its anti-air and anti-armor weaponry, Mulla Mustafa ordered the KDP to begin retreating to avoid repercussions from the Iraqi Army. 200,000 Kurdish refugees fled to Iran, and there were somewhere in the region of 20,000 casualties on each side[33]
After its suppression of the armed resistance, the Ba'ath razed at least 1,400 villages to create a security belt along the Turkish and Iranian borders. At least 600,000 civilians were deported to collective "re-settlement camps", with anyone caught trying to abandon these camps being executed on the spot. The Iraqi government also used this opportunity to settle demographic scores in their favor – resettling Kurds from disputed territories and moving in Arab families in their place. The Ba'ath even offered financial incentives to Arabs who took Kurdish wives.[34]
Under Saddam Hussein
In the wake of their defeat during the 1974–1975 War, Mustafa Barzani and his sons Idris and Masoud fled to Iran. The power vacuum they left behind was thus filled by their ideological nemesis Jalal Talabani, who, together with his leftist supporters announced in Damascus the formation of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
Despite the terrible hardships suffered by the Kurds as a whole, intra-Kurdish feuding did not cease following the 1974–1975 war, as KDP groups ambushed and killed PUK fighters on several occasions in 1976–1977.[35] Talabani vowed revenge, and at various moments ordered his troops to fire upon any KDP troops – but suffered from operational weaknesses compared to the KDP. Feuding and splitting continued throughout the late 1970s, as the KDP, PUK, and KDP-I jostled for influence and funding from neighboring states.[36]
At the commencement of the
As Saddam was assured of support both financial and militarily in his war against the
With the Kurds in a seemingly stronger position than in any time since the 1960s, and their betrayal in the mind of Saddam complete, large-scale repression commenced. In Sulaymaniyah (PUK territory) Saddam rounded up 500 male children, aged 10–14, and had a substantial number of them tortured before being killed.[38]
The KDP and PUK received advanced weaponry from Iran, such as
Gulf War and Kurdish Uprising
With the wholesale defeat of Iraqi forces by early 1991, unrest gathered pace in Kurdistan. Popular uprisings sprang up in
In the face of international and UN pressure, the United States, Britain, and France led
KRG and self-rule
As the Iraqi Army re-took Kirkuk and the other southernmost Kurdish areas, while the American and European air forces prevented further encroachment, the KDP-PUK led Kurdistan Front was compelled to, once again, negotiate an autonomy deal with Saddam Hussein.
Negotiations stalled, and Saddam strengthened his position by isolating the Kurdish region, cutting off all imports and exports leading up to a harsh winter. Kurds began to demonstrate against both Saddam and the ineffectiveness of their leaders, chanting "We want bread and butter, not Saddam and not the Kurdistan Front!" Masud Barzani stated: "Our governing process is paralyzed.... there is a crisis in the Kurdistan Front."[42]
The isolation gave the Kurdish leadership the chance to hold elections, without Baghdad's interference. Thus in May 1992, the first Kurdish democratic
Despite this success, the division between the two parties was deep-seated. The KDP and Barzani loyalists were mostly from the north of the region and Bahdini-speakers, while the PUK's support was almost exclusively from the Sorani-speaking area, and based in the more progressive city of Sulaymaniyah. One veteran Kurdish politician said: "They [Barzani and Talabani] do not trust each other. If you visit one all he can do is talk about the other. They are obsessed with their party rivalry ... they do not work out any common strategy. There is not strategy at all, except to get ahead of the other party."[44] When PUK veteran Fuad Masum was appointed Prime Minister, he resigned in protest of the bipolar situation. Thus the Kurdistan Region was effectively two states within a state, ruled by two different parties, armies, and security forces.[45]
Fighting broke out in May 1994 between the KDP and the PUK, dividing Iraqi Kurdistan into two regions, with the KDP receiving support from the Iraqi government as well as Turkey and Iran. The
According to the Financial Times,[46] both the KDP and PUK became wealthy recipients of Iraq's oil money transferred to them in cash by Paul Bremer.
Most recently, when the
Election results
Presidential election
Presidential election | |||
---|---|---|---|
Election | Candidate | Votes | Result |
1992 | Masoud Barzani | –
|
–
|
2009 | 1,266,397 | 69.6% |
Parliamentary election
Parliamentary election | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Position | Outcome |
1992 | Masoud Barzani | 437,879 | 45.3% | 51 / 100
|
–
|
1st | Government |
2005 | Nechirvan Barzani | –
|
–
|
40 / 111
|
11 | 1st | Government |
2009 | –
|
–
|
30 / 111
|
10 | 1st | Government | |
2013 | 743,984 | 37.8% |
38 / 111
|
8 | 1st | Government | |
2018 | 688,070 | 44.1% |
45 / 111
|
7 | 1st | Government |
Governorate election
Governorate election | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Position | Outcome |
2005 | Masoud Barzani | 741,483 | 42.1% | 61 / 123
|
–
|
2nd | Government |
2014 | 816,654 | 37.8% | 34 / 90
|
27 | 1st | Government |
Political leaders
Party leaders
Image | Year | Name | Period | Time in office |
---|---|---|---|---|
1946 | Mustafa Barzani | 1946–1979 | 33 years | |
1979 | Massoud Barzani
|
1979–present | Incumbent |
Branches
Kurdistan Democratic Party was established on August 16, 1946, under the leadership of Mustafa Barzani.[53] The leadership and organisational structure of the party is as follows:
- President
- Vice President
- Political Bureau
- Central Committee
The structure and party administration is divided into regions or branches known as "liq", districts as "nawcha", local organisations as "rek-khraw" and cells as "shana". Each liq is subdivided into nawchas; nawchas into rek-khraws and rek-khraws into shanas.
- 1st Branch – Duhok
- 2nd Branch – Hewlêr
- 3rd Branch – Kerkûk
- 4th Branch – Silêmanî
- 5th Branch – Baghdad
- 6th Branch – Europe (London)
- 7th Branch – Northern America (Washington D.C.)
- 9th Branch – Akrê
- 10th Branch – Soran(Rwanduz region)
- 11th Branch – Ranye/ qaladiza
- 12th Branch – Hellebce
- 14th Branch – Mosul
- 15th Branch – Xaneqîn
- 16th Branch – Hewlêr-Şaweys
- 17th Branch – Şingal
- 18th Branch – Amêdî
- 19th Branch – Çemçemall
- 20th Branch – Şêxan
- 21st Branch – Germyan-Kelar
- 23rd Branch – Mexmûr
- 24th Branch – Şeqllawe
- 26th Branch – Ballekayetî-Çoman
Members of Political Bureau or Central Committee head each branch. Other members are elected at branch and district conferences.
Congresses
First Congress
The first congress of the party convened in
Second Congress
The Second Congress convened in Baghdad in March 1951 at a time when some of the party's leadership members had been arrested by the Iraqi regime and the party members were subjected to arrest and chasing under martial laws and the party ranks were beginning to disintegrate.[citation needed]
Third Congress
The Third Congress convened in Kirkuk on January 26, 1953, with the view of reinforcing the party ranks. It was in this congress that the party's name was changed from the Kurdish Democratic Party into the Kurdistan Democratic Party. It was also decided to form a number of Kurdish popular and professional organisations, and the name of the party's organ was changed from Rizgari to Khebat.[citation needed]
Fourth Congress
This congress convened in Baghdad, October 4–7, 1959 following the demise of the Iraqi Monarchy amidst considerable political freedom. Mustafa Barzani and his comrades had already returned home from the Soviet exile. This Congress is considered to be one of the most important congresses of the KDP and the first one to be attended by Barzani. In this congress, the KDP was able to rid itself of the ideological conflicts and adopt a nationalist and progressive position.[citation needed]
Fifth Congress
The Fifth Congress convened at the KDP's Headquarter in Baghdad in early May 1960. It convened following the announcement of the political parties' law. This was the first time for the KDP to be officially permitted to conduct its activities publicly and legally.[citation needed]
Sixth Congress
This congress convened in Qala Diza in early July 1964. It was devoted to the conflicts, within the leadership, brought about by the negotiations that had taken place between the Kurdish movement and the Iraqi regime. Representatives from the Ahmad-Talabani faction were arrested on arrival.[citation needed]
Seventh Congress
The Seventh Congress convened in Galala on November 15, 1966, in the wake of June 29 agreement. The KDP seized the chance to further unify its ranks[citation needed]
Eighth Congress
This congress convened in Naw Pirdan on July 1, 1970, almost four months after March 11 Agreement with the objective of enhancing the ranks of the party, the people of
Ninth Congress
This congress convened on the Iraqi–Iranian–Turkish borders, December 4–13, 1979. It was the first congress after the death of its leader Mustafa Barzani. It was also the first congress after the 1975 conspiracy. The congress was considerably successful in reorganising the parties ranks and re-establishment of the May Revolution institutions. It was in this congress that
Tenth Congress
This congress of the KDP convened in the district of Margewer, December 12–17, 1989. It was in the aftermath of the well documented barbaric chemical attacks against the Kurds and the
Eleventh Congress
This congress was convened in
Twelfth Congress
This congress was convened in Erbil from October 6 to October 13 and held against a background of several years of internal conflicts and KDP's leading role in the third cabinet of the
Thirteenth Congress
The party's 13th congress was held in December 2010 in Erbil, capital of Kurdistan, under the banner of Renewal, Justice and Coexistence. The congress re-elected Masoud Barzani as president of the party and welcomed the appointment of Nechirvan Barzani as vice president.[citation needed]
See also
References
- ^ "What Changes Will the Kurdistan Democratic Party Congress Bring?".
- ^ "What Changes Will the Kurdistan Democratic Party Congress Bring?".
- ^ "What Changes Will the Kurdistan Democratic Party Congress Bring?".
- ^ "What Changes Will the Kurdistan Democratic Party Congress Bring?".
- ^ "What Changes Will the Kurdistan Democratic Party Congress Bring?".
- ^ a b Gürbey, Hofmann & Seyder 2017, p. 65.
- ^ "Election commission publishes official KRG election results". Rudaw.
- ^ "Two leading Iraqi Kurdish parties are taken off US terrorism list". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
- ^ McDowall 2004, p. 241.
- ^ a b c d e McDowall 2004, p. 242
- ^ McDowall 2004, p. 297.
- ^ McDowall 2004, p. 299.
- ^ McDowall 2004, p. 300.
- ^ a b McDowall 2004, p. 302
- ^ a b McDowall 2004, p. 303
- ^ a b McDowall 2004, p. 305
- ^ a b McDowall 2004, p. 306
- ^ McDowall 2004, p. 307.
- ^ McDowall 2004, p. 311.
- ^ McDowall 2004, p. 312.
- ^ McDowall 2004, p. 313.
- ^ a b c McDowall 2004, p. 314
- ^ McDowall 2004, p. 316.
- ^ a b McDowall 2004, p. 317
- ^ McDowall 2004, pp. 317–323.
- ^ McDowall 2004, p. 324.
- ^ McDowall 2004, p. 325.
- ^ McDowall 2004, p. 328.
- ^ a b McDowall 2004, p. 331
- ^ McDowall 2004, p. 333.
- ^ McDowall 2004, p. 335.
- ^ a b McDowall 2004, p. 337
- ^ McDowall 2004, p. 339.
- ^ McDowall 2004, p. 340.
- ^ McDowall 2004, p. 344.
- ^ a b McDowall 2004, p. 346
- ^ a b McDowall 2004, p. 347
- ^ a b McDowall 2004, p. 352
- ^ McDowall 2004, p. 372.
- ^ McDowall 2004, p. 373.
- ^ a b McDowall 2004, p. 376
- ^ McDowall 2004, p. 379.
- ^ McDowall 2004, p. 380.
- ^ McDowall 2004, p. 385.
- ^ McDowall 2004, p. 386.
- ^ "The Iraqi Kurdistan challenge – Inside Iraq". Al Jazeera English. 30 January 2010. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
- ^ "Iraqis protest in Kurdish region, capital". Reuters. 19 February 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
- ^ "Restraint urged in Iraq's Kurdistan Region following more protester deaths". Amnesty International. 21 February 2011. Archived from the original on 4 September 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
- ^ a b thomas yocum (24 February 2011). "Document – Iraq: Authorities in Iraq urged to allow peaceful protests". Amnesty International. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
- ^ "Rudaw in English The Happening: Latest News and Multimedia about Kurdistan, Iraq and the World – Parties Try To Soothe Gorran's Revolutionary Rage". Rudaw.net. 13 February 2011. Archived from the original on 13 February 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
- ^ "Iraq: Restraint urged in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq following protester deaths". Amnesty International. 18 February 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
- ^ "Iraq: Investigate Protester Deaths". Human Rights Watch. 17 February 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
- ^ "KDP". Kdp.se. Archived from the original on 10 September 2018. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
Literature
- McDowall, David (2004). A modern history of the Kurds (3rd ed.). London: I.B. Tauris. ISBN 1-85043-416-6.
- Gürbey, Gülistan; Hofmann, Sabine; Seyder, Ferhad Ibrahim (2017). Between State and Non-State: Politics and Society in Kurdistan-Iraq and Palestine. Springer. ISBN 9781137601810.
- Entessar, N. (2010). Kurdish Politics in the Middle East. Lexington Books. ISBN 978-0-7391-4039-0.
Notes
- ^ Includes six seats from the KDP-led Kurdistan Alliance in the Nineveh Governorate