Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iraq
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Kurdistan Democratic Party | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Massoud Barzani |
| Founded | 16 August 1946 |
| Headquarters | Arbil, Duhok |
| Political ideology | Social Democracy
(party charter: Democratic Socialism) |
| International affiliation | Socialist International |
| Website | www.kdp.pp.se |
Founded by Mustafa Barzani, the legendary Kurd who fought numerous revolts against Baghdad with success. It was established in Iranian Kurdistan in 1946 upon the creation of a Kurdish Republic of Mahabad, which lasted for less than a year. On 16 August 1946, a congress was formed in which the formation of the KDP was announced [1]. In this congress the KDP stated the political and economic situation of the Kurds in Iraq were different from that of Iran. It demanded autonomy for the Kurds of Iraq. Mulla Mustafa Barzani was elected as the president of the party, Kaka Ziad and Sheikh Latif were appointed as vice presidents. Hamza Abdullah was elected its Secretary- General
Rebelling against the Iraqi government in the aftermath of the first Gulf War, the KDP became perhaps the single most influential Iraqi anti-Saddam group. Its peshmerga, or militia fighters, were able to operate with relative impunity in the no-fly zone of northern Iraq.
The KDP has jointly administered northern Iraq (which the Kurds call the free Kurdistan, because of its semi-independent status). The KDP became the leading party in the Kurdistan Regional Government in Erbil. The other main Iraqi Kurdish party, the leftist Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, split with the KDP and established a de facto government of their own in the city of Suleymaniya.
Accepting the assistance of the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein, the KDP fought a civil war against its rivals, the PUK, who in turn accepted the assistance of Iran.
Both Kurdish groups fought alongside the Coalition of the Willing to topple Hussein's regime in 2003. More recently, the KDP and PUK have united to form a joint list, the Democratic Patriotic Alliance of Kurdistan, under which it contested the 2005 Iraqi elections. This was followed by the decision in May 2006, to form an alliance with the PUK and run Irbil as a unified party. [1]
The party has its wings in every part of Kurdistan, the KDPI (KDP of Iran), in Syria (Al Party), in Turkey (PDK-Bakur) and even in Lebanon.
