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Why the KDP has Failed to Respond in a
Civilised Way in the Events of Sulaimaniyah
22.2.2011
By Mufid Abdulla |
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February 22, 2011
Observers to the KDP structure and its organisation
do not need to go too far to find out about both
these elements of this Party. The KDP is run by a
tribal leader which is mainly dominated by the
Barzani tribe and other tribes who have been related
through marriage, etc. The leader of the KDP has
been Mustafa Barzani from the early days of 1946 to
1976 and then the leadership was transferred to his
two sons Idris and Massoud in 1976, what is called a
provisional leadership (KDP). I remember in 1986
when I was in the Targawar and Margawar Valley on
the border of Iraq and Iran, the headquarters of the
KDP was in Razan village, and as far as I remember
their leadership and style has not changed since
these days.
The KDP is a tribal party; it is therefore very rare
that you will find any outsiders who have any big
authority and responsibilities in this type of
party. They consider every event as a tribal value,
not in terms of the social and economic progress
that will be the same for their followers and
grassroots. In 1975 when the revolution collapsed,
the KDP killed anybody who did not obey Barzani’s
orders for not continuing the armed struggle or in
some cases these people simply disappeared (Randal,
1998). When the new armed struggle took place in
1977,www.ekurd.netfor
the KDP this was the biggest hurdle in front of
revolutionary forces and a civil war; we only have
to look at how Ali Askari was killed
(McDowall,1997). In 1992 when the civil war broke up
in Kurdistan, the KDP played a major role with a
sister party, namely the PUK. People will never
forgive them for that. Latest is 31/08/1996 ! The
KDP is an old party which deserves to be broken up.
The violent background of the KDP has never taken
them anywhere. One of the protesters in
Sulaimaniyah, who wanted to remain anonymous, told
me over the phone, “the KDP must fall, and we will
make sure it does”.
Since, 2003 and the collapse of the Saddam regime
the KDP did not realise the full implication of the
changes. It is reasonable to fear the worse,
particularly when you consider the nepotism and
corruption which is rife everywhere.
Going back to the very recent events of 17th
February, the inevitable consequence of using
violence on the inside is that it is escalating
violence on the other. 3 people have been killed and
57 have been injured; all of them with bullets on
their back! The KDP hates us for our freedom and the
KDP hates us for our spirit of revolution. Nechirvan
Barzani’s press conference has made it even more
obvious to all of us how much the KDP is under
pressure and how strong is its mood of staunch
defiance; he keeps saying that the KDP is a party
which prefers dialogue and communication with all
political parties. According to him, if they had
known several days prior to that tragedy then it
would not have been necessary to act like that;
ostensibly that was the only reaction for the KDP. I
can see the KDP like an American soldier; if
somebody attacks him in the middle of Baghdad they
will shower bullets all around him in an act of
desperation.
I must admit, I was not surprised in the current
climate the response of certain writers and other
people who call themselves journalists. This
nation’s mother has been injured; how do you go
about it; this nation’s kids and yours have been
raped in daylight, but what are these people
thinking of?
With regards to the article by Delovan Barwari, on
this website dated 20/02/11 “Violence
is deterrence …”, firstly I do not
know where this writer lives, if in Kurdistan they
should realise not to mix the cause and results of
these events in Kurdistan. As for the stability and
prosperity mentioned I do not believe any of them
have been achieved for the last twenty years; this
region has never had any stability for every day
that we have had the issues. Then the prosperity the
writer refers to; are they calling prosperity the
lack of basic services such as electricity and water
for the last twenty years?
The architect behind this demonstration is the power
of the people, not the Gorran movement. People are
furious that Gorran has not responded positively
about the events on the 17th February. So, basically
people do not want to dissolve the Parliament,
people hate the KDP for what they did on the 17th
February and for what they are continuing to do.
People want an independent judicial system; that is
on the lips of every single citizen in Sulaimaniyah.
Bearing in mind, an uprising started in 1991 from
Sulaimaniyah and this time it has started from
Sulaimaniyah again, this is because people are more
conscious of the class struggle, etc. I am
personally proud of that.
Another writer and editor-in-chief of the Klawrojna
website has written on this website, “Peshmarga
forces shall remain neutral”.
Peshmarga forces have been the tool of the two main
Kurdish parties the PUK and KDP; in the eyes of the
people they are militia because they are not siding
with them. Despite the fact he has been writing
about the corruption in Kurdistan for the last few
weeks I am not sure if he got any permission from
Flakadin Kakay, the KDP’s polit-bureau, before
printing it! But in this article there is not the
slightest reference to the massacre in Sulaimaniyah
on the 17th February. Apparently, every Kurdish
citizen in Kurdistan knows who murdered Sardasht
Osman and Soran Mama Hama apart from Delovan Barwari
and Baqi Barzani!
People do not want the collapse of this system they
need reform and the ameliorating of the political
system to eradicate corruption.
References:
Randal J (1998) Kurdistan, After such Knowledge,
What Forgiveness, Bloomsbury Pages 183-189
McDowall D, (1997) The Modern History of the Kurds,
Page, I.B, Tauris Publishers,Pages 344-345.
You may reach the author at
mufid@btconnect.com
Copyright © 2011 ekurd.net
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