The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan is a political party active in Kurdistan Region and the disputed territories in Iraq. The PUK describes its goals as self-determination, human rights, democracy and peace for the Kurdish people of Kurdistan and Iraq. The PUK is currently under the leadership of Bafel Talabani. The PUK was founded in 1975 by Jalal Talabani, Nawshirwan Mustafa, Fuad Masum, Adel Murad, Ali Askari and Abdul Razaq Feyli Dawood Mohammed Ali. All presidents of Iraq under the 2005 constitution have been from this party.
Sulaymaniyah or Slemani, is a city in the east of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and is the capital of the Sulaymaniyah Governorate. It is surrounded by the Azmar (Ezmer), Goizha (Goyje) and Qaiwan (Qeywan) Mountains in the northeast, Baranan Mountain in the south and the Tasluja Hills in the west. The city has a semi-arid climate with very hot dry summers and cold wet winters.
Iraqi Kurdistan is a term referring to the area in northern Iraq inhabited by Kurdish-speaking people. Among Kurds, Kurdish territoriality has become a widely promoted feature of Kurdish nationalism. Much of the geographical area of Iraqi Kurdistan is part of Kurdistan Region (KRI), a semi-autonomous region in the Republic of Iraq. Those areas claimed by KRI authorities are referred to as “disputed territories”. Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution stipulates the mechanism for solving the dispute by a date not exceeding 31 December 2007, but this has not been implemented and remains an outstanding issue. Some have suggested that the government of Iraq has made it clear that it does not intend to implement the article, but instead aims to dismantle Kurdistan Region altogether.
The flag of Kurdistan is the flag of Kurds and was created by the Society for the Rise of Kurdistan in 1920. It would later, in different variants, be adopted as the national flag of different Kurdish states including Republic of Ararat, Republic of Mahabad and most recently by Kurdistan Region in 1992. Moreover, the Kingdom of Kurdistan used the crescent flag which was also considered a Kurdish flag.
The Republic of Ararat, or Kurdish Republic of Ararat, was a self-proclaimed Kurdish state from 1927 to 1931. It was located in the Armenian highlands, centred on Karaköse Province. "Agirî" is the Kurdish name for Ararat.
Sheikh Mahmud Barzanji, also known as Mahmud Hafid Zadeh was a Kurdish leader of a series of Kurdish uprisings against the British Mandate of Iraq. He was sheikh of a Qadiriyah Sufi family of the Barzanji clan from the city of Sulaymaniyah, which is now in Iraqi Kurdistan. He was named King of Kurdistan during several of these uprisings.
Kifri is the central town of Kifri District in Diyala Governorate, Iraq. It has a mixed population of Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen. It is under de facto administration by Kurdistan Region, but remains a disputed area claimed by the central government.
The Jaff tribe, most official national archives and government documents write the name as: Jaf, Al Jaf, or Aljaf. In other countries, it may also appear as Jahf, Jaaf, or Caf. Jaff is the largest Kurdish tribe in the Middle East, it is also known as the Jaff clan, living in the borderlands of Iran and Iraq. Their heartland is between Sulaymaniyah to Sanandaj. The tribe predominantly adheres to the Shafi'i school with many Naqshbandi and Qadiriyya followers. It is a dynasty, that originated in the year 1114 by Zaher Beg Jaff, other important leaders were Mohamed Pasha Jaff, Lady Adela, Osman Pasha Jaff and Mahmud Pasha Jaff, their ancestral home is Sherwana Castle. The Ottoman Empire bestowed on them the name Pasha, a noble title, in the 1700s. They are the biggest Kurdish tribe in the Middle East with approximately 4 million people and they speak Babani Sorani. They ruled the Ardalan Principality until the 1860s.
The Iraqi–Kurdish conflict consists of a series of wars, rebellions and disputes between the Kurds and the central authority of Iraq starting in the 20th century shortly after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I. Some put the marking point of the conflict beginning to the attempt by Mahmud Barzanji to establish an independent Kingdom of Kurdistan, while others relate to the conflict as only the post-1961 insurrection by the Barzanis.
Lady Adela Jaff or Adela Khanem, called the Princess of the Brave by the British was a Kurdish ruler of the Jaff tribe and one of the first famous woman leaders in the history of Kurdistan. The Jaff tribe is the biggest tribe in Kurdistan and is native to the Zagros area, which is divided between Iran and Iraq. Adela Khanem was of the famous aristocratic Sahibqeran family, who intermarried with the tribal chiefs of Jaff. Lady Adela exerted great influence in the affairs of Jaff tribe in the Sharazor plain. The Brits appointed her the title “Lady” due to the restoration of trade and law in the region and succeeded in saving the lives of hundreds of British soldiers.
Mahmud Barzanji revolts were a series of armed uprisings by Kurdish Sheykh Mahmud Barzanji against the Iraqi authority in newly conquered British Mesopotamia and later the British Mandate in Iraq. Following his first insurrection in May 1919, Sheykh Mahmud was imprisoned and eventually exiled to India for a one-year period. When returning, he was once again appointed a governor, but shortly revolted again declaring himself as the ruler of the Kingdom of Kurdistan. The Kingdom of Kurdistan lasted from September 1922 – July 1924. With British forces greatly exceeding his in ammunition and training, the defeat finally subdued the region to central British Iraqi rule in 1924. Sheykh Mahmud retreated into mountains, and eventually reached terms with the independent Kingdom of Iraq in 1932, over his return from the underground. Sheykh Mahmud revolts are considered the first chapter of the modern Iraqi–Kurdish conflict.
The nationalist movement among the Kurdish people first emerged in the late 19th century with an uprising in 1880 led by Sheik Ubeydullah. Many Kurds worked with other opponents of the Ottoman regime within the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP). A growth in ethnic consciousness at the start of the 20th century was spearheaded by the Society for the Elevation of Kurdistan. Some Kurdish nationalist groups agitated for secession, others for autonomy.
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 British Empire after World War I. They also spearheaded revolts against the Iraqi government 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 Iran 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 the Kurdistan Region, ruled by a KDP-PUK coalition. The Peshmerga have played an important role in re-taking territory occupied by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
Mustafa Pasha Bajalan, was an Ottoman Kurdish general and administrator, He was the final head of the Bajalan family and his father was the last hereditary governor of the Pashlik of Zohab.
During World War I, several Kurdish rebellions took place within the Ottoman Empire. The rebellions were preceded by the emergence of early Kurdish nationalism and Kurdish revolts in Bitlis in 1907 and early 1914. The primary Kurdish war aim was the creation of an independent Kurdish state, a goal that Britain and Russia promised to fulfil in order to incite Kurdish resistance. Other reasons for resistance include a fear that they would suffer the same fate as the Armenians, the desire for more autonomy, and according to Ottoman sources, banditry.
The Kurdish state was an autonomous government in Southern Kurdistan that existed from October 1918 to June 1919.
Ottoman Kurds were ethnic Kurds who lived in the Ottoman Empire. At its peak, the Ottoman Empire ruled North Kurdistan, South Kurdistan, West Kurdistan, and a small part of East Kurdistan. These parts of Greater Kurdistan ruled by the Ottomans are collectively known as Ottoman Kurdistan.
Kurdish political violence refers to politically motivated acts of violence committed by Kurds with the motive of achieving improved rights, self-determination, recognition, freedom of prisoners, autonomy, independence, or other goals. While Kurdish political violence mostly occurred in Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria, it later spread internationally.
