Kurdistan celebrates legacy of September Revolution teachers in Erbil

Shafaq News/ In a grand ceremony held in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region, several teachers who participated in the September Revolution of 1961 were honored on Wednesday.

Shafaq News Agency’s correspondent reported that the Erbil Teachers' Union organized the event to recognize the contributions of Erbil teachers involved in the revolution. The ceremony was marked by a large public turnout.

During the event, Bilind Ismail, the head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party’s (KDP) Second Branch, remarked, "This celebration is ours, as descendants of those teachers, to honor those blessed days."

Ismail emphasized that "our presence in Kurdistan today is thanks to those who participated in the September Revolution. Our ability to read and write in Kurdish is due to the efforts of the teachers who took part in the revolution and continued to educate us."

The September Revolution (also known as the Kurdish September Revolution), led by Mustafa Barzani, began in 1961 against successive Iraqi governments and lasted until 1975, culminating in the Algiers Agreement between Iraq and Iran.

Despite the KDP's efforts to approach the government and prevent conflict, Abdul Karim Qasim ignored these attempts. On September 11, 1961, the Iraqi military bombarded Darbandikhan, the Halikan Valley, and the Duhok area. On September 19, 1961, the KDP’s Political Bureau decided to confront the government, forcing the Kurdish people to resort to armed struggle for self-defense.