Settlement of the Kurdish Problem in Iraq
Delineation of the Self-Rule Zone
Article 5
Ath-Thawra 30.10.1972
One of the basic points of the March Manifesto and the peaceful and democratic solution to the Kurdish problem is the delimitation of the Zone covered by self-rule.
The ABSP and the revolutionary government recognized the right of the Kurdish people to enjoy self-rule-within the framework of the Iraqi Republic, the unity of both the political system and national sovereignty and the unity of the interests and aspirations of the Arab and Kurdish peoples.
This was confirmed in the Manifesto, but the Manifesto did not define the geographical zone to be covered by self-rule.
Nevertheless, the Manifesto did contain distinct bases in this respect. Article 14 says:
"After the proclamation of this Manifesto, necessary measures shall be taken, in consultation with the High Committee entrusted with its enforcement, to unify the governorates and administrative units populated with a Kurdish majority, as shown by an official population census to be carried out later on. The state shall endeavor to develop this new administrative unit and expand the exercising, therein, by the Kurdish people of all their national rights as a surety for enjoying full self-rule. Pending the realization of this administrative unity, coordination of Kurdish national affairs should be undertaken through periodical meetings between the High Committee and the governors of the northern area."
From the above article of the March Manifesto, which the KDP endorsed and recognized as a sound basis for the settlement of the Kurdish question, it is evident that the road to the delimitation of the Self-rule Zone passes through "unifying the governorates and administrative units populated with a Kurdish majority -as shown by an official population census to be carried out in due course”.
As to the question of the census, we should like to point out some facts. During the talks that preceded the Manifesto, the representatives of the KDP declared that they did not recognize the legality of the 1965 census, conducted under the Arifite dictatorial regime, pointing out that that census had been guided by racism. We agreed with them upon ruling out that census as a basis for finding out the areas populated with a Kurdish majority. Instead, we proposed depending upon the 1957 census as a basis for the new census scheduled to be carried out after the declaration of the Manifesto.
This meant conducting a new population census in the areas whose Kurdish majority is disputed, provided that any population presence that took place in any of these areas after the 1957 census is not recognized.
After the announcement of the Manifesto, and in the course of the action taken to translate it into a reality, the question of commencing practical measures to delimit the areas populated by Kurdish majority was discussed.
Mr. Murtada Saeed Abdul Baqi, in his capacity as Chairman of the Peace Committee entrusted with the implementation of the Manifesto, conferred with Mr. Mustafa al-Barzani over the question of census. The latter told Mr. Abdul Baqi that he was not prepared to recognize the results of the proposed census if they indicated that the areas which he took for granted to be Kurdish were not so.
He said literally: "Kirkuk is part of Kurdistan. If the population census shows that the majority of its inhabitants are not Kurds, I will not recognize this. I will not bear, before the Kurds, the responsibility for relinquishing Kirkuk. Maybe this can take place after me"!!
This being the situation, the census became meaningless. Commencing it rather meant the resumption of fighting. Therefore, the Revolutionary Command Council preferred to defer the census and Mr. al-Barzani endorsed the postponement.
In the course of the current talks between the ABSP and the KDP, we presented the following other proposals:
"In view of the obstacles hindering the conduction of a population census, and because of the desire to speed up granting self-rule to the Kurdish-populated areas, we propose the re-arrangement of the administrative partition in the light of national reality as follows:
a. Creation of national administrative units in the areas populated by Kurds.
b. Amalgamation of the administrative units populated exclusively by Kurds (governorates, districts and sub-districts) into one administrative area; and this area shall be considered the Zone covered by self-rule.
c. As to Kurdish nationals living in the mixed areas outside the Self-rule Zone, their cultural and administrative rights, within the areas where they live, shall be guaranteed on a par with the other ethnic groups living in the same units".
This is our stance towards the question of the delimitation of the Self-rule Zone. It originates from the following principles:
1. Belief in the legitimate rights of the Kurdish people.
2. Assuring the pre-requisites for exercising these rights.
3. Recognizing that the practicing of these rights takes place only within the framework of one united homeland, namely, Iraq.
However, we have to state quite frankly that we do not feel that brothers in the leadership of the KDP and the Kurdish Movement view the matter from the same angle. This is no illusion. On the contrary, this is the result of many actual practices and real conditions. It is also proved by the internal publications of the KDP. These publications themselves are a very dangerous aspect, because internal indoctrination expresses opinions and attitudes of political parties more openly than does their public information media, which are governed by many circumstances, and considerations that prevent the surfacing of all harbored positions.
To clarify our opinion on this matter more precisely, we quote below this excerpt from an article entitled "What is Self-rule?" carried by "al-Kadir" (the internal theoretical magazine of the KOP), issue No. 14/15 for July/August 1972:
"The central objective of our KDP and the Liberation Movement of our Kurdish people, at the present phase, is the realization and practicing of self-rule.
The March Agreement specified certain measures and steps to draw the landmarks of the road leading to self-rule. But neither the substance nor the general guidelines of self-rule were spelled out in the agreement".
In the same article, we continue to read passage:
This "Self-rule is not a substitute for the Kurdish people's right to self-determination. But the objective realities of the development of the Kurdish Liberation Movement together with the circumstances and conditions surrounding the Movement, necessitate raising the self-rule slogan, so as to enforce the common struggle against the enemies of the two nationalities".
Now, what are we to make of this preaching?
We believe, one does not need thoughtful analysis and lengthy scrutiny to arrive at this obvious conclusion:
"Self-rule is a central objective in this phase", "Self-rule is not a substitute for self-determination", "The objective realities and the surrounding circumstances and conditions necessitate raising the slogan of self-rule" ...These are indeed the essence of the Kurdish attitude; the rest of the phrases and words are secondary indications, meaning nothing stable and profound. We wish to ask the brothers in the KDP
What is the right for self-determination in your opinion?
As it is well known, the right for self-determination is two-sided:
a. Voluntary union
b. Separation.
To our mind, the KDP identified itself with the first side, namely voluntary union, by endorsing the March Manifesto.
In our opinion, too, this is what is desired by the Kurdish masses.
Now, are we to understand from the sentence "self-rule is no substitute for the right to self-determination" that such a right is to be achieved in phases-the first being self-rule as implied by the sentence reading "The central objective of our KDP and the liberation movement of our Kurdish people, at the present phase, is the realization and practicing of self-rule" and by the other sentence saying "The objective realities of the development of the Kurdish liberation movement, together with the circumstances and conditions surrounding the movement, necessitate raising the slogan of self-rule to enforce the common struggle against the enemies of the two peoples"?
The above quotations from the literature used by the KDP for indoctrinating its members is, on the one hand, more important than anything published by "al-Taakhi" in this respect for the reasons stated earlier. On the other hand, they shed sufficient light on all of the incidents, attitudes and points of view presented by the KDP ever since the proclamation of the March Manifesto. They also illuminate the source of this leadership’s concept of the March Manifesto and the ways and means for implementing it as well as its attitude towards its own commitments regarding the implementation of all the clauses of the Manifesto and the restoration of normal life in both the northern area and the entire Iraq and regarding the establishment of self-rule and all its essential local and national institutions. (We will deal with these matters in detail later on.)
In addition to all we have said, we reproduce here, by way of example, a large portion of an article published by "al-Kadir" magazine, in the same issue referred to above, under the title: "The Kurds and Kurdistan, Between the Arab Nation and the Arab Countries", This article sheds more light on the perspective of the leadership of the KDP of the subjects under discussion.