The Iraqi–Kurdish conflict consists of a series of wars, rebellions and disputes between the Kurds and the central authority of Iraq starting in the 20th century shortly after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I. Some put the marking point of the conflict beginning to the attempt by Mahmud Barzanji to establish an independent Kingdom of Kurdistan, while others relate to the conflict as only the post-1961 insurrection by the Barzanis.
Since the US-led invasion of Iraq and the subsequent adoption of federalism in 2005 and the recognition of the Kurdistan Region (KRI) as a federal region in the new Iraqi constitution, the number and scope of armed clashes between the central government of Iraq and the Kurds have decreased. In spite of that, however, the major issue that continues to cause disputes is the implementation of Article 140 of the Constitution of Iraq. In September 2023, following a series of punitive measures by the central government in Iraq against KRI, Masrour Barzani sent a letter to the President of the United States expressing concerns about a possible collapse of Kurdistan Region, and calling for the United States to intervene. In March 2024, after several court rulings issued against Kurdistan Region by the Supreme Court of Iraq, Kurdish authorities in Iraq expressed dissatisfaction at what they described as an evident shift of the political system in Iraq back towards centralism.
Overview
The first chapter of the Iraqi–Kurdish dispute followed the end of World War I and the arrival of British forces. Mahmud Barzanji began secession attempts in 1919 and in 1922 proclaimed the short-lived Kingdom of Kurdistan. Though Mahmud's insurrections were defeated, another Kurdish sheikh, Ahmed Barzani, began to actively oppose the central rule of the Mandatory Iraq during the 1920s. The first of the major Barzani revolts took place in 1931, after Barzani, one of the most prominent Kurdish tribal leaders, succeeded in defeating a number of other Kurdish tribes. He ultimately failed and took refuge in Turkey. The next serious Kurdish secession attempt was made by his younger brother Mustafa Barzani in 1943, but that revolt failed as well, resulting in the exiling of Mustafa to Iran, where he participated in an attempt to form the Kurdish Republic of Mahabad.
In 1958, the younger Barzani and his fighters returned to Iraq from exile, and an attempt was made to negotiate Kurdish autonomy in the north with the new Iraqi administration of Gen. Abdul Karim Qassim. The negotiations ultimately failed and the First Iraqi–Kurdish War erupted on 11 September 1961, lasting until 1970 and resulting in 75,000–105,000 casualties. Despite the attempts to resolve the conflict by providing Kurds with recognized autonomy in northern Iraq, the negotiations failed in 1974, leading to resumed hostilities known as the Second Iraqi–Kurdish War, which resulted in the collapse of the Kurdish militias and the reconquest of northern Iraq by Iraqi government forces. As a result, Mustafa and most of the KDP leadership fled to Iran, while the nascent PUK, led by Jalal Talabani gained power in the vacuum, and lead an insurgency campaign against the central Iraqi government, which eventually also failed. During the period between 1976 and 1977, intra-Kurdish conflict climaxed with KDP and PUK both dealing blows against each other in a string of tit for tat raids. The most notable Ba'athist Arabization campaigns in northern Iraq happened in the late 1970s.
The conflict re-emerged as part of the Iran–Iraq War, with the two Kurdish parties collaborating against Saddam Hussein, while receiving military support from the Islamic Republic of Iran. By 1986, the Iraqi government conducted a genocidal campaign known as Al-Anfal, to oust the Kurdish fighters and take revenge on the Kurdish population—an act often described as the Kurdish genocide, with an estimated 50,000–200,000 casualties. The Iran-Iraq war ended in 1988.
In the aftermath of the Gulf War, in 1991, a series of uprisings happened in the north and south of the country. This, combined with the enforcing of the northern-southern no-fly zones by the United States, United Kingdom and France, and the subsequent withdrawal of the Iraqi armed forces from parts of northern Iraq, allowed the Kurds to regain control in the north by filling the vacuum. In the mid-1990s the internal conflict between the KDP and PUK erupted once again, resulting in a bloody civil war, with Iraq and Iran supporting both KDP and PUK respectively. The conflict ended in 1997, with the signing of the Washington Agreement.
Another critical event was the invasion of Iraq in 2003, which resulted in the toppling of the Ba'athist regime and the adoption of federalism. Despite the constitutional recognition of Kurdistan Region as a federal region in the Republic of Iraq, relations between Kurdistan Region and the Iraqi central government grew strained between 2011 and 2012 due to power-sharing issues and the export of oil. Following the failed Kurdish independence referendum in 2017, as well as the subsequent defeat of the Peshmerga at the hands of the Iraqi armed forces in the 2017 Iraqi–Kurdish conflict, Iraq has since taken steps to weaken Kurdistan Region and expand its own authorities in order to shift the political dynamics of the country back towards a centralised political system; the one it had before the invasion.
Events
Pre Iraqi independence era
Mahmud Barzanji (1919–1924)
Mahmud Barzanji revolts were a series of armed uprisings against the British forces in the newly conquered Mesopotamia and later the British Mandate in Iraq. Following his first insurrection in May 1919, Sheykh Mahmud was imprisoned and eventually exiled to India for a one-year period. When he returned he was once again appointed a governor, but shortly afterwards revolted again and declared himself the ruler of the Kingdom of Kurdistan. The Kingdom of Kurdistan lasted from September 1922 – 1924. With British forces greatly exceeding his in ammunition and training, Barzanji was finally subdued and the region reverted to central British Iraqi rule in 1924. Sheykh Mahmud retreated into the mountains, and eventually reached terms with the independent Kingdom of Iraq in 1932, over his return from the underground. Shaykh Mahmud revolts are considered the first chapter of the modern Iraqi–Kurdish conflict.
1931 Kurdish revolt
Ahmed Barzani revolt refers to the first of the major Barzani revolts, taking place in 1931 after Ahmed Barzani, one of the most prominent Kurdish leaders in Southern Kurdistan, succeeded in unifying a number of other Kurdish tribes. The Barzan forces were eventually overpowered by the Iraqi Army with British support, forcing the leaders of Barzan to go underground.
Ahmed Barzani was later forced to flee to Turkey, where he was held in detention and then sent to exile in the south of Iraq. Although initially a tribal dispute, the involvement of the Iraqi government inadvertently led to the growth of Shaykh Ahmad and Mulla Mustafa Barzani as prominent Kurdish leaders.
Kingdom era
1943 Kurdish revolt
The 1943–1945 Kurdish revolt in Iraq was a Kurdish nationalistic insurrection in the Kingdom of Iraq, during World War II. The revolt was led by Mustafa Barzani and later joined by his older brother Ahmed Barzani, the leader of the previous Kurdish revolt in the Kingdom of Iraq. The revolt, initiating in 1943, was eventually put down by Iraqi military assault in late 1945, combined with the defection of a number of Kurdish tribes. As a result, the Barzanis retreated with much of their forces into Iranian Kurdistan, joining the local Kurdish elements in establishing the Republic of Mahabad.
Republic era
Negotiations over Kurdish autonomy (1958–1960)
After the military coup by Abdul Karim Qasim in 1958, Mustafa Barzani was invited by new Iraqi President Qasim to return from exile, and was greeted with a "hero's welcome", as a former dissident to the now abolished Iraqi monarchy. As part of the deal arranged between Qasim and Barzani, Qasim promised to give the Kurds regional autonomy in return for Barzani's support for his policies. Meanwhile, during 1959–60, Barzani became the head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which was granted legal status in 1960.
First Iraqi–Kurdish War (1961–1970)
First Iraqi–Kurdish War or Barzani Rebellion was a major event of the Iraqi–Kurdish conflict, lasting from 1961 to 1970. The struggle was led by Mustafa Barzani in an attempt to establish an independent Kurdish state in northern Iraq. Throughout the 1960s the uprising escalated into a long war, which failed to resolve despite internal power changes in Iraq. The war ended with a stalemate by 1970, resulting in between 75,000 to 105,000 casualties. A series of Iraqi–Kurdish negotiations followed the war in an attempt to resolve the conflict.
Ba'thist era
Cease-fire (1970–1974)
A Kurdish Autonomy agreement was reached in March 1970 by the Iraqi government and the Kurds, in the aftermath of the First Iraqi–Kurdish War, for the creation of an Autonomous Region, consisting of the three Kurdish governorates and other adjacent districts that have been determined by census to have a Kurdish majority. The plan also gave Kurds representation in government bodies, to be implemented in four years. For its time it was the most serious attempt to resolve the long-running conflict.
Second Iraqi–Kurdish War (1974–1975)
Second Iraqi–Kurdish War was an offensive, led by Iraqi forces against rebel KDP troops of Mustafa Barzani during 1974–75. The war came in the aftermath of the First Iraqi–Kurdish War (1961–70), as the 1970 peace plan for Kurdish autonomy had failed to be implemented by 1974. Unlike the previous guerilla campaign, waged by Barzani, the 1974 war was an attempt for symmetric warfare against the Iraqi Army, which eventually led to the quick collapse of the Kurds, lacking advanced and heavy weaponry. The war ended with the exile of the Iraqi KDP and between 7,000 and 20,000 deaths on both sides.
Arabization of northern Iraq and PUK insurgency (1976–1979)
The PUK insurgency was a low-level militant campaign by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) against the state of Iraq, after the defeat of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in the Second Iraqi–Kurdish War, which forced the KDP organization to declare a ceasefire and move into exile. Due to lack of foreign support, however, the guerrillas were only able to operate in the highest regions of northern Iraq's mountains. The PUK also faced the KDP, the KDPI, led by Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou, and Iran supporting the Iraqis at various occasions. The insurgency dimmed with the 1979 Kurdish rebellion in Iran.
Ba'athist Arabization campaigns in North Iraq were forced displacement and cultural Arabization of minorities (Kurds, Yezidis, Assyrians, Shabaks, Armenians, Turkmen, Mandeans), in line with settler colonialist policies, led by the Ba'athist government of Iraq from 1960s to early 2000s, in order to shift the demographics of North Iraq towards Arab domination. The Baath party under Saddam Hussein engaged into active expulsion of minorities from the mid-1970s onwards. The campaigns took place during the Iraqi–Kurdish conflict, being largely motivated by the Kurdish-Arab ethnic and political conflict.
The policies are sometimes referred as "internal colonialism", described by Francis Kofi Abiew as a "Colonial 'Arabization'" program, including large-scale Kurdish deportations and forced Arab settlement in the region.
Kurdish rebellion during the Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988)
Between 1980 and 1988, the conflict intensified as the Iran–Iraq War commenced. One of the groups targeted in particular by Iraqi authorities were the Feyli Kurds, a community of Shi'ite Kurds settled in the southern area of the Zagros Mountains near Iraq's border with Iran. Saddam Hussein considered the group as 'Iranians' and began a campaign to drive the settlers out of the area as a part of his 'Arabization' policy in 1980., Saddam Hussein was severely critical of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) as they aligned forces with Iran in the conflict. In 1983, to avenge this liaison, he ordered the Army to abduct as many as 8,000 men and boys from Erbil province, where the clan of Barzani Kurds was based. Massoud Barzani, the leader of the clan and the KDP, himself lost 37 members of his family to the Iraqi troops. They were reported to having been sent to Nugra Salman prison in the southern deserts of Iraq, where they were tortured. Subsequently, the remains of 512 Barzani men were discovered in a mass grave. On March 16, 1988, Iraqi troops began shelling the Kurdish town of Halabja, in retaliation for an attack on Iraqi positions carried out by Iranian Revolutionary Guards and the aligned Peshmerga fighters. Subsequently, the town was attacked with a mix of chemical substances such as VX (nerve agent), sarin and mustard gas (see Halabja chemical attack). Over 5,000 people are believed to have been killed in the attack, which was considered to be a part of the Al-Anfal Campaign, directed against Kurds by the government under the command of Ali Hassan al-Majid, head of the Northern Bureau of the Ba'ath Party.