Barzani Kurds

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The Barzani tribe (Kurdish : Eşîra Barzanî‎) [1] is a term for both the Kurdish Barzani tribe and for the confederation of various neighboring tribes inhabiting Barzan in Kurdistan Region of Iraq. [2] The Barzan tribe is mostly Naqshbandi [3] and one of the most influential ones in Kurdistan. It is furthermore claimed that the tribe converted to Islam from Yazidism [4] and it has Jewish members as well. [5] Other than the Barzani tribe, the Barzani confederation consists of the Sherwani, Muzuri, Beroji, Nizari, Dolomari and Gerdi tribes. [6] During the Kurdish genocide, about 8,000 members of the tribe were massacred. [7]

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Persecution by the Iraqi Government

On the 10 June 1932 the Iraqi Army approached the Barzani to avenge their forgoing uprising. Some 400 families left their possessions and fled. Women and children went to Turkey and about 250 men stayed to defend their homeland. Between 1932 and 1934 the Iraqi Army together with the Royal Air Force attacked and destroyed 79 villages in the Barzan area. 2382 families had to flee the area. On the 11 November 1945 the Royal Air Force bombed and destroyed 35 villages. More than 15.000 civilians fled to Iran. On the 10 April 1947 the Irani Army attacked the Barzani with tanks and artillery and about 5000 men, women and children fled back to Iraqi Kurdistan, where they were imprisoned and held captive between 2 and 12 years. [8]

In July and August 1983, on the orders of President Saddam Hussein [9] over 8,000 men and boys of the Barzani tribe, some as young as 13, were killed by the Ba'athist Iraq. [10] [11] [12]

See also

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Iraqi–Kurdish conflict wars and rebellions by Iraqi Kurds against the government

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Ahmed Barzani revolt

Ahmed Barzani revolt refers to the first of the major Barzani revolts and the third Kurdish nationalistic insurrection in modern Iraq. The revolt began in 1931, after Ahmed Barzani, one of the most prominent Kurdish leaders in southern Kurdistan, succeeded in unifying a number of other Kurdish tribes. The ambitious Kurdish leader enlisted a number of Kurdish leaders into the revolt, including his young brother Mustafa Barzani, who became one of the most notorious commanders during this revolt. The Barzani forces were eventually overpowered by the Iraqi Army with British support, forcing the leaders of Barzan to go underground.

The 1943–1945 Barzani revolt was a Kurdish nationalistic insurrection in the Kingdom of Iraq, during World War II. The revolt was led by Mustafa Barzani and was later joined by his older brother Ahmed Barzani, the leader of the previous Kurdish revolt in Iraq. The revolt, initiating in 1943, was eventually put down by the Iraqi assault in late 1945, combined with the defection of a number of Kurdish tribes. As a result, the Barzanis retreated with much of their forces into Iranian Kurdistan, joining the local Kurdish elements in establishing the Republic of Mahabad.

The Peshmerga have historically been Kurdish guerrilla forces combating the ruling power in the region of what is now Iraqi Kurdistan. Under Mahmud Barzanji, the Peshmerga fought against the occupying British after World War I. They also spearheaded revolts against Iraq in 1931–1932 and against Iran in 1946–1947. Under the leadership of Mustafa Barzani, Peshmerga forces fought the Iraqi government in the First and Second Iraqi–Kurdish Wars of the 1960s and 1970s, and supported the Iranian side in the Iran–Iraq War of the 1980s. The Peshmerga became divided between forces loyal to the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and those loyal to the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), a split that led to the Iraqi Kurdish Civil War of 1995–1998. After the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Peshmerga became the official military forces of autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan, whose government has attempted to unify the factions. The Peshmerga have played an important role in re-taking territory occupied by ISIS in 2014.

Pendro Village in Kurdistan Region, Iraq

Pendro or Pendru is a Kurdish village in Kurdistan Region, located in Erbil Province, close to the border with Turkey, it is located approximately 15–18 km to the north from Barzan, of population over 2540 people and located in central Muzuri Bala one of the seven tribes of Barzan. It lies in a valley surrounded by low peaks and mount Butin about 4 km northeast of Pendro and also the canyon of Sardav is about fifteen minutes walk from the north end of the village. The villages of Banan and Shive to the north, Derek to the northeast, Edlbey and Zet to the east, Selke, Stope and Guiza Walati to the south, Binavye and Navkorka to the west, Dezo and Spindare to the northwest. The area of Pendro covers over 10 km2 (4 sq mi). The terrain is highly mountainous, lying within the Zagros; less than 10% of the Pendro is below 1,225 m (4,019 ft), and its highest point is 2,534 m (8,314 ft). All population speaks local Bahdini dialects of Kurdish as their native language, and Central Kurdish in its standard form is the Kurdistan's official language.

References

  1. ↑ "Muzexaneya Barzanî". Ria Taza (in Kurdish). June 2, 2020. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  2. ↑ Farkas, E. (2003). Fractured States and U.S. Foreign Policy: Iraq, Ethiopia, and Bosnia in the 1990s. Springer. ISBN   9781403982438.
  3. ↑ Abdulla-Ali, Najat (2006). Empire, frontière et tribu: Le Kurdistan et le conflit de frontière turco-persan (1843-1932) (in French). p. 86.
  4. ↑ Blaydes, Lisa (2020). State of Repression: Iraq Under Saddam Hussein. p. 157. ISBN   9780691211756.
  5. ↑ Schleifer, Yigal (April 7, 2003). "Kurdish leader a Jew?" . Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  6. ↑ "Tari̇kat, İsyan Ve Si̇yaset Üçgeni̇nde Ortadoğu'nun Asi̇ Aşi̇reti̇: Barzani̇ler" (PDF). Journal of Social and Humanities Sciences Research (in Turkish). 5 (25): 2321. 2018.
  7. ↑ "Kurdistan Region marks 36th anniversary of Barzani genocide". Kurdistan24. July 31, 2019. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  8. ↑ Ihsan, Mohammed (June 17, 2016). Nation Building in Kurdistan: Memory, Genocide and Human Rights. Routledge. p. 67. ISBN   9781317090168.
  9. ↑ "Saddam Hussein confirms the execution of the Barzanis". YouTube.
  10. ↑ "FROM BLUEPRINT TO GENOCIDE?" (PDF). drmohammedihsan.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 9, 2017.
  11. ↑ "Iraqi tribunal rules Barzani killings in 1983 were genocide". ekurd.net.
  12. ↑ "Various waves of Kurdish genocide". uk.gov.krd. Archived from the original on September 1, 2017.
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