Ageed Derky

Mullah Mustafa BarzaniMullah Mustafa Barzani has been termed by his own family and followers as the father of the Kurdish nation, and the most patriotic Kurdish leader in the history of Kurds. While it makes good sense that freedom fighters should be given beautiful titles, but “Father of the Nation” is really exaggerated to be used for Mullah Mustafa Barzani because he really is not what his family and followers have depicted him to be in the public and historical records.

As it is said, most of the time there are two sides to a story, a good and a bad one. But sometimes only the good side of the story is told to the crowed and the bad side is kept secret deliberately to deceive and mislead as many people in order to control their mind and influence their lives for personal gains and benefits. As far as I remember, only one side of the life story of Kurdish leader Mullah Mustafa Barzani has been told to the public around the world and it is often exaggerated.

It is not that no one has ever interacted or lived closely to Mustafa Barzani and his family to have enough information about his life and personality, but the reasons of not speaking out everything about him are different for different people. Some people don’t speak it for political and economic reasons. While some others have bias opinions and remained silent to the truth. And some more kept quiet for the fear of being killed by Barzani family and his followers.

Many Kurdish people, especially the one who have served as an old Peshmarga with Mullah Mustafa Barzani, know that Mullah Mustafa Barzani was an illiterate Kurdish leader. They also know that he did not hold any academic degree in the field of Political Science, Administration or Strategic Science. But they choose not to speak or write about it in any place. Although, a few people who have served as Peshmerga with Mullah Mustafa Barzani, have started speaking and giving out more information about the life of Mullah Mustafa Barzani through social media.

I have gathered as much information as I could from some old Peshmarga about Mullah Mustafa Barzani that have not been sent out and published to the public before. According to the statements of some old Peshmarga I have spoken to that Mullah Mustafa Barzani was not an educated person except he had some knowledge of Islamic teachings which he had learnt from Naqshbandi Sheikhs in Barzan region during his childhood.

Mullah Mustafa believed and lived his life on the bases of teachings of Quran. He practiced Quranic teaching which it means he was against secular and democratic values. He was an advocate of Islamic rules of life such as polygyny and superiority of men over women. He was married to more than one woman and he was superior to his wives. He was against the right to usury business, relationships outside of marriage, drinking alcohol, gambling, eating pork, and homosexuality right.

Moreover, he believed in dynastic politics and feudalistic economic system where a single family should control economy and govern a nation. In reality, Mullah Mustafa Barzani was a religious tribal chief. He had a tribal mentality mixed with Islamic religious beliefs. His his tribal and religious mentality was always at the center of his decision making and as a result dominating his Kurdish nationalistic and political beliefs. As a tribal chief, his blood relations, bias, jealousy, selfishness and subjectivity feelings would always get in the way when he would make judgment and decisions towards none Barzani Kurdish people. Basically, his feeling of caring and attachment to his own family, tribe, and relatives were stronger than his feelings and beliefs of democracy and Kurdish and patriotism.

He became the leader of a so called Democratic Party of Kurdistan after he had picked up arm and fought against Iraqi rulers. He fought the Kurdish enemies for long years. And he always claimed that the reason he was fighting Iraqi rulers was because he wanted to get autonomy and rights for Kurds in Iraq. However, he himself proved through his mistakes and his biased and tribal -Islamic primitive mentality that he was not fighting to get a type of autonomy for Kurds where respect for freedom of choice, equality, democracy, human rights, pluralism and the rule of law would be reality and superior to the rule of his own primitive, tribal and religious mentality in such an autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq.

Despite the truth that Mullah Mustafa Barzani has fought against Iraqi rulers for many years of his life, his intentions gradually became clear through his dictatorship characteristics and traits that he was up to achieve a type of autonomy for Kurds within Iraq like a small kingdom that would be run under his rule as the king of Kurdistan, something like what Kurdish leader Mahmoud Barzanji did.


His real intention became evident after he proved himself that he was not a type of a true democratic leader of Kurds because not only he was intolerant to criticism and challenge made by other Kurdish leaders and intellectuals of Kurds such as Jalal Talabani, Ibrahim Ahmad, Dr Mahmoud Ottoman, and Sami Abdul-Rahman, but was also dangerous enough to kill any Kurds who would threaten his leadership position in his Kurdish KDP political party.

Mullah Mustafa Barzani was an abusive leader. He would hit his Peshmarga members with his cane when they would not listen to him. As a matter of fact, he killed many Kurdish people from Harki, Zebari and Rekani tribes simply because they refused to come under his command. He expelled and threatened many more Kurdish member of his own KDP political party because they simply suggested to make reforms and hold elections of leadership in the KDP party.

Dr Mahmoud Ottoman and Dr Sami Abdul Rahman was one of the prominent intellectual members of KDP who left KDP party because Mullah Mustafa Barzani undermined their credentials and refused to take his idea of reforms and election within the KDP party. Mullah Mustafa Barzani rather decided to keep the leadership and decision- making of KDP under the control of himself and his sons Masood and Idris Barzani. Although, Dr Sami Abdul Rahman was more educated and skilled than Massoud and his brother Idris Barzani, yet Mullah Mustafa turned a blind eye to his excellent career as a Kurdish politician of KDP party. He made his decision to past the leadership of KDP party to his own sons after he dies.

Dr Sami Abdul Rahman left KDP party pretty upset after serving in KDP for more than ten years. Dr Sami Abdul Rahman was a Peshmerga and a top political advisor for Mullah Mustafa Barzani and his family. He was more educated and skilled in politics than the whole family of Barzani. He believed in democracy, secularism, freedom and human rights. He had British higher education. He frequently visited Britain and discussed Kurdish cause with British authorities. He was a great diplomat for the Kurdish cause at large. He certainly was the right and best man to take over the leadership of KDP party after Mullah Mustafa Barzani passed away. But the dictatorship attitude and mentality of Mustafa Barzani did not let that happen.

Mullah Mustafa Barzani died, but his dream of becoming the king of Kurdistan never came true. After his death, his sons Massoud and Idris Barzani took over the leadership of KDP political party just as their father wrote in his will. Masood and Idris Barzani followed the same footsteps of their father with the same tribal and dictatorship mentality. Just like their father they kept loudly claiming that they were fighting for Kurdish rights yet the opposite was proven and their true colors surfaced that they use patriotic slogans and the Peshmerga service record of their abusive father Mullah Mustafa Barzani to justify to have the ultimate power, wealth, only for their own family, Barzani tribe, relatives and their KDP political party in Kurdistan of Iraq.

Under the leadership of Masood and Idris Barzani, KDP members started killing any Kurds who would try to challenge and criticize their primitive mentality, rule and their position of leadership within their political party. One time they would make alliance with Iranian military forces and another time they would turn to ask help from Turkish and Iraqi military forces to kill Kurds. The hands of Mullah Mustafa Barzani and his family have been tainted with the blood of Kurdish people from Iraqi, Turkish and Iranian Kurdistan because they have killed Kurds from all three parts of Iran, Turkey and Iraq.

Mullah Mustafa Barzani and his sons were never democratic and patriotic Kurdish leaders nether their KDP party was meant to be a democratic party, and it is still not, even after the dream of autonomous Kurdistan in Iraq became reality for them by the help of NATO forces. Massoud Barzani has turned Kurdistan region of Iraq like mini kingdom under the rule of Barzani family just as his father Mustafa Barzani dreamt of it.

While KDP party follows democracy from outside to a certain extent by participating in elections, it deviates internally from holding the same democratic elections for the KDP party. They are not doing so because KDP party is a single family ruled party and the history proves that whoever opposes the Barzani family’s leadership in KDP has to suffer later. The allegiance and interest are first given to the Barzani family, and not to the voters who sent them to the Parliament. The Barzani family expects the party office bearers and ministers show complete surrender or loyalty to them. Any breach only will be faced with dismissal or resignation. All those who could not confirm b to their dictate have left the party.P

There are some top intellectual who hold PhD degrees in law, political science, economic and administration within the ranks of KDP party. These members can make reforms and run the KDP party much better than the Barzani family, but they have not given the opportunity to do the job. In fact, no member of KDP can challenge the political decisions of Barzani family because they do not want to risk their political career by challenging leadership and making them angry.

The worst part is many of them do not have any choice because they joined KDP party in which leaders are decided by the birth of people in a family which has ruled the party for decades. These members of KDP have a very hard luck because even knowing that what they are doing is wrong they cannot do anything to change that without risking their political career and their lives. KDP party is led by dynastic leaders. Barzani Family controls the party and makes all the decisions for the party members and its policies. No other leader to be projected as a President, and Prime Minister except from Barzani family which is something a cause of worry. Internal democracy though inside the KDP is absent and the tribal mentality of Barzani family doesn’t work in a complex modern society.

To sum it up, Kurdish patriotism is used as a tool by Barzani Family to accumulate wealth and power through corruption within Kurdistan regional government agencies. They have eventually become billionaires, under the slogans of patriotism and all at the expense of the public.

Ageed Derky is an old Peshmerga resides in Norway.[1]