Idriss Barzani: the first architect of diplomacy and revolution

Shafaq News/  It is impossible to read the history of the region, Iraq, and the Kurdish movement specifically, without highlighting the character of Idriss Barzani - whose 33rd death anniversary marks the end of January- given the roles he played in the war and peace days, in the Kurdish, Iraqi, and regional arenas.

The biography of Idriss Barzani, the father of the current President of Kurdistan, Nechirvan Barzani, point out that he was not an ordinary figure, whether when he was inspired by the legacy of his father Mala Mustafa, suffering like other Kurds - and the Barzani family in particular - from the transformations of history and conspiracies, as he fought in 1961 in defense of his people, when he was becoming a Kurdish peace fighter, or as a negotiator who deserves to be called the "first Kurdish diplomat".

"When mutual trust develops, all problems will disappear", said Chris Kutschera, a French journalist who specialized in the Middle East and Kurdish affairs, when he met Idriss Barzani days before his sudden death at a young age in 1987.

This statement reflects much of Idriss Barzani's life and his way of thinking in the various political and militant stations, whether in the negotiating rooms or on the battlefields, as a constant seeker of understandings and compromises.

Michael Gunter said in his book "Historical Dictionary.. The Kurds" that Idriss Barzani emerged alongside his brother Masoud as leaders of the Kurdistan Democratic Party after the death of their father, leader Mala Mustafa. The most prominent features of Idriss are that he is more academic and intellectual, but he retains the traditions on which he grew up.

Born in 1944 in the Barzan region, Idriss Barzani was influenced by his family's traditions, which are linked to nationalist and religious roots that tend to be Sufi, and undoubtedly affected by the storms of the historical events that hit the region and the Kurdish movement.

Idriss Barzani was only two years old when his father and his companions went to eastern Kurdistan - specifically to the new Republic of Mahabad. However, after the events that accompanied the Kurdish Republic's establishment, Barzani's father and his companions were forced to go to the Soviet Union, while the Barzani families returned to Iraq with Mustafa Barzani's older brother, Sheikh Ahmed Barzani. Idriss was then three years old, and when they arrived, the Iraqi authorities forced them to go to the southern regions of Iraq.

He was six years old when he was educated at a school in Karbala, where his family had been forced to live and was reunited with his father only after the fall of the monarchy in 1958 by Abdul Karim Qassem and the return of the father from the Soviet Union.

Life turns did not wait much for this young man, as the revolution broke out only three years later, specifically in September 1961, and he left his studies to carry his weapon in support of his family after Abdul Karim Qassem retreated from his commitments. Thus, Idriss Barzani was one of the first Peshmerga fighters who took up arms. He led many operations, including the Battle of Mount Handrin in 1966.

Because the fighting was not a goal, Idriss Barzani played a key role in the 1970 talks and negotiated the March 11 agreement. In his book "The Historical Dictionary", Michael Gunter pointed out that When Idriss traveled to Baghdad to negotiate with Saddam on March 8, 1970, Kurdish Democratic Party activists were worried about his life, and many opposed the negotiating visit sought by Idriss.

Nevertheless, those negotiations brought an agreement, which is the essence of what Idriss Barzani -who is described as one of the Convention's architects- was seeking. Indeed, the agreement did not last long after the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and Saddam Hussein reached what is known as the "Algiers Agreement". As usual, Idriss was betting that understanding is the master of positions; he made extensive efforts to promote the Convention's work on the Kurdish scene despite the opposition voices.

Nevertheless, Author Michael Gunter said that Idriss survived an assassination attempt in December 1970, months after the March agreement with the Baghdad government. The regime's Al-Thawra newspaper in Baghdad - at the time - accused some "imperialist" circles of involvement in the assassination attempt.

Because Idriss was always looking for political channels for action, he was the first to open a communication channel with the Americans. In an interview with the U.S. "Front Line" website, Kurdish politician Dr. Mahmoud Othman said that the first contacts between the Kurdish leadership and Americans under President Richard Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger took place in 1972, and he participated alongside Idriss Barzani as they went to Washington together.

According to Othman, the meetings took place through the C.I.A. in 1972. It was the first visit of its kind by the Kurds to the United States on an official and secret mission. They met there in Langley, the State Department's head and other figures from the State Department and the Pentagon, a task that Osman described as a major breach. However, these attempts suffered a setback after the Algiers Agreement's announcement, as Washington apparently did not want to upset its ally, the Shah, by opening up to the Kurds.

The official site of Masoud Barzani confirmed that in the face of this situation - which was described as a setback for the September revolution - Idriss and Masoud Barzani were focused on establishing an interim leadership of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (K.D.P.), under the instructions of Mala Mustafa in cooperation with a group of leaders and senior cadres.

Between 1980 and 1987, Idriss Barzani and his brother Masoud played influential roles in leading the Gulan Revolution - which was a real response to the Algiers Agreement - and in establishing several opposition political fronts in Iraq, most notably the founding of the Kurdistan Front, which was declared in May 1988, and Idriss was considered its "architect" - despite its announcement months after his sudden death on January 31, 1987, in the Slivanh area of the city of Urmia in eastern Iran.

But that front was the center of the revolutionary movement that led to the subsequent uprising in 1991.

The roles of Idriss Barzani were not limited to this. He was known for his relentless efforts in the internal reconciliations and settlements, preventing bloodshedding, and arranging the Kurdish inner house, just as his son Nechirvan Barzani is now doing through his role in the presidency of Kurdistan.

Furthermore, he played a major role in shaping the relations with Tehran after the Islamic Revolution in 1979, taking advantage of his long stay there, and his ability to negotiate diplomatically with the Iranians. He gained the Iranian confidence via the credibility of his movements and positions, despite the Iranian nationalists' sensitivity. For years, he held his main political position as a member of the Central Committee of the K.D.P. and then a member of the party's political bureau since 1976.

In his article, French journalist Chris Kutschera talked about Idriss Barzani's recent statements on the sidelines of his participation in a conference of the Iraqi and Kurdish opposition held in Iran in 1987, specifically days before his sudden death of a heart attack.

At a conference held between December 24 and 28, 1986, Idriss heard pledges from the then Iranian President, Ali Khamenei, that Iran would leave the choice of the political system and political leadership to the Iraqis themselves, Idriss Barzani told the French journalist, "These words are important to opposition groups and will make relations between Iran and Arab countries easier".

Idriss was upset that factions and parties such as the Communist Party and the Democratic Rally were absent from the opposition conference in Tehran, "Because they made it more difficult for us to defend our position that the Iraqi people want free elections to choose their regime, which will come after the fall of Saddam Hussein. If they were there, it would have been easier to defend our position".

He was also puzzled by the absence of Libya's second-in-command, Abdelsalam Jaloud, and Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Sharia'. However, his displeasure was evident in the absence of Iraqi and Kurdish forces, which confirmed his constant desire to work for consensus and to meet in search of solutions. He understood the rise of Islamist forces on the public scene when he said, "We were dealing with nationalist forces, but now we are dealing with Islamic groups. We are facing a new situation. It is a new situation for us, a new situation for the entire Middle East. We have to adapt to that". 

These forces were reticent to use the term "national rights" of the Kurds.

He also realized that the Kurdish issue is also sensitive to Iranians and Turks, "We Kurds are interested in improving future relations with Iran and Turkey, which is why we have removed the word "nationalism" from the statement".

The statement also did not include the word "independent" for the same reasons, "If mutual trust improves, then all problems will disappear. We do not accept anything less than what we are fighting for, but for the conference to succeed - so that no one blames the Kurds for its failure - we were ready to accept the general terminology".

It is an exceptional diplomatic art by a Kurdish leader at that difficult and sensitive time, "I pledge to fight for the rights of the Kurds as if I was one of them", said Mohammad Baqir Al-Hakim, leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI).

After the 1991 uprising and the liberation of most of the Kurdish territory in Iraq, both Idriss Barzani and his father Mala Mustafa's bodies were returned to Kurdistan on October 6, 1993, to be buried in Barzan, where thousands of citizens visit their shrine annually.