Mustafa Barzani's Role In Kurdish Diplomacy

Nemat Sharif | Exclusive to iKurd.net

Diplomacy

It is the study and practice of a set of formally organized relations between countries or entities that are linked in peace or in war. A diplomat is then responsible for clarifying and explaining these relations and policies that link his country to the host nation, as well as theirs to his own.

He must certainly be a well-informed, well-cultured person who is familiar with political, economic and government affairs of his country as well as the host nation.

Therefore, a successful diplomat is the one who reflects the position of his country to the host country and reflects the position of the host nation to his country so that officials in his country can manage developments in the host country. He must deal with developments in light of his country’s policy and come up with solutions that satisfy both nations in the event of problems arise between them.

Neither party should feel wronged in order to reach a sustainable solution between them. Speaking of diplomacy, the ambassador is the first one to come to mind for he is the first person responsible for a team of specialists and experts in international relations, in addition to his other administrative responsibilities. He is not as erroneously thought of as a postman who conveys messages between two nations.

Beginnings of diplomacy

Before we talk about Barzani’s role in Kurdish diplomacy, I would like to point out that the beginning of diplomacy in history began in Kurdistan in the era of the Hittite Empire, which lasted for more than a thousand years. It included northern and southern Kurdistan, and extended its power to include Syria, Lebanon and parts of Palestine.

The Hittite capital was in northern Kurdistan, in Hattusa (near modern day Bogazkale, Turkey. Then, in about their last 350 years, it moved to the Bahdinan region in southern Kurdistan. Most likely, the name Hittite survived in a village name near Dohuk. According to newer research, they were an Indio-European people who spoke an Indo-European language.

Kurdish historians still shy away in accepting the Hittites as one of the important roots of the Kurdish people, simply because others claim them as Anatolian! Biblical studies indicate that at least two great generals in the army of the Prophet David (pbuh), were Hittites.

The beautiful Egyptian queen, Nefertiti, and wife of a Pharaoh was the daughter of one of the Hittite kings. The marriage was the result of an excellent diplomatic relationship between the king of Hittites, her father, and the Pharaoh of Egypt.

Barzani’s Diplomacy:

Here are brief examples of Barzani’s diplomatic behavior, which may have impacted the behavior of others, perhaps more so their diplomatic lives and work forever.

1. Meeting the Shah of Iran: after the collapse of the Mahabad Republic, Barzani Peshmerga and their families wanted to return to Iraq, but were unable because of heavy snow and severe winter conditions. It would take two or three months for the road to clear in spring. Iranian official denied them stay. Barzani decided to travel to Tehran to negotiate with the prime minister or the Shah himself to request permission to remain on Iranian territory until spring.

After all failed, he requested to meet the Shah. Despite much psychological pressure and waiting, he met with the Shah who gave him the choice either to move to south-central Iran, and the government would facilitate this process, with transportation, aid, etc., or to leave Iranian territory immediately, and demanded an immediate answer, at least before leaving Tehran.

Otherwise his military would launch a sweeping attack on them. Barzani told him that the decision was not his. War and peace decision is his elder brother’s, the Sheikh. The Shah was surprised. Barzani added, I am only an envoy. The Shah said, “How is that?” Barzani told him, you are the king, but you send someone you trust to negotiate, so do we. If the decision was in my hands I would not have come here myself, and if I do not return then there are others who will assume my role.

What I am saying here is that I will return to him and give him the options that you suggested and if he decides to accept moving to the south then we will certainly come back and request your help. As you know we have families of women, elderly and children with us and the snow has blocked the roads, and we cannot leave at this time. His goal at this point was to leave Tehran as soon as possible because he felt the Shah’s bad intention towards him. The Shah agreed.

2. Meeting Khrushchev: after three days of his sit-in in front of the Kremlin, he was allowed to meet Khrushchev with two others from the Political Bureau of the Soviet Communist Party. As he entered the room Khrushchev told him that he had violated the law by coming to Moscow without permission and therefore he will have to face the consequences.

Barzani told him that he considered himself victorious from this moment on because he had come to the USSR in order to convey the wish of the Kurdish people to the highest body in the East, which is this body. He came to explain the cause of the oppressed Kurdish people who were divided into four parts by colonialists.

My people entrusted me with this responsibility. You are a great country and you say that you help all oppressed peoples and for this reason I came here knocking on the door of the Kremlin.

Only then Khrushchev invited him to take a seat. Barzani explained the suffering of the refugees and talked about Baghirov, the head of the Azerbaijani Communist Party, and how he plotted against them in cooperation with Beria, another member of the Azerbaijani Party.

They asked him how he knew that Baghirov and his gang betrayed the Soviet people, and that they had found 74 letters from Barzani written between 1948 and 1952 addressed to the Kremlin. Barzani replied when a guest comes to your home you respect him; and you express friendship with all peoples and support for the oppressed but Baghirov and Beria did not do this.

It is clear betrayal of the ideology and the Soviet people. Khrushchev immediately promised to improve the conditions of the Kurdish refugees and ordered a house and a car for him to stay in Moscow, and allowed him to receive visitors and visit the refugees.

Mustafa Barzani with Mohsen Dizayi — Mustafa Barzani (left) with Mohsen Dizayi,1970s. Photo: KDP/colorized by iKurd.net

3. Meeting with his Representatives: This is a summary of how Mr. Mohsen Dizayi, a form minister and a companion of Barzani, summed up the discussion. In Barzani’s meeting with his representatives in foreign countries, Barzani asked about what they have done. They presented their reports as he listened to them intently.

After everyone finished, he told them, well done, you all did great in conveying the voice of our oppressed people and our revolution to the world. But one question remains: what these governments think of us, what are their positions regarding our revolution? Everyone was silent. Barzani continued that it is their duty from now on to care about the opinions and positions of you host nations, just as you care about conveying our voice to them.

These were few examples of Barzani’s skillful diplomacy in action under very difficult circumstances. Let me add that despite the teaching of political science, especially diplomacy as a science in Kurdistan, there is still a long road ahead of us. I believe that diplomatic Kurdish successes lie in the legitimacy of the Kurdish cause, as it is the cause of the largest people in the world without a state and the third largest nationality in the Middle East.

Most of our diplomacy is improvised rather than institutional. A limited number of experienced people by virtue of their positions, they play a very important role in pushing the cause forward.

Mullah Mustafa Barzani, KDP Party leader, 1970s. Photo: KDP

Contemporary relations and diplomacy require that we move from spontaneous unilateral representation of parties to institutional diplomatic decision-making, behind which stands an ‘army’ of trained diplomats familiar with politics and international relations, especially as Kurdish universities have begun to train and graduate batches of diplomatic enthusiasts who are dedicated to serving their country and people.

From a historical point of view, most of the Kurdish leaders, not only Barzani, but also Qazi Muhammad and Prince Badrkhan and many others, have not received due credit for their roles in Kurdish diplomacy.

Before I conclude here I must mention the words of the American journalist who visited Barzani in the mid-sixties of the last century, Dana Adam Schmidt, in his book Journey to Brave Men in Kurdistan “He (meaning Barzani) has a very sophisticated political mind that helps him penetrate deep until he reaches the final result or to the heart of the matter, while we find others still immersed in the details.”

Sources:

‘Captivating History’, Hittites, Middletown, DE, USA, 2023(English)
Bullock John and Morris, Harvey, No Friends but the Mountains, the Tragic History of the Kurds, Oxford University Press, New York, 1992. (English)
Botani, Abd al-Fattah Ali, Dr. Basic Leadership and Humanistic Features of Mostafa Barzani’s Personality, Khabat Press, Dohuk, 1996 (Arabic)
Kurdistan Democratic Party, Media Department, the Historic Journey to the Soviet Union (1945-1958), 1982 (Arabic)
Mamaseini, Saber, Dr. Kurdish Diplomacy, Tafseer Press, Erbil, Kurdistan, Iraq, 2022 (Kurdish)
Schmidt, Dana Adams, Journey among Brave Men, Atlantic Monthly Press, Boston, 1964 (English)

Nemat Sharif, a political analyst, a senior contributing writer and columnist for iKurd.net.

The opinions are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of iKurd.net or its editors.