ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region leaders on Friday commemorated the September Revolution marking the start of the Kurdish armed resistance against the toppled Ba’ath regime in Iraq in September 1961, in what is known as one of the most significant national movements to have laid the foundation for Kurdish political and national rights.
President Nechirvan Barzani hailed the September Revolution as the “mother of Kurdistan revolutions” and the “foundation of national vigilance, thought and identity in a difficult period when the existence and rights of the Kurdish people were denied.”
“By bringing together all classes, religious and ethnic communities in Kurdistan under one umbrella, the revolution became a steel will and conveyed the legitimate voice of the Kurdish people's freedom fighting to the whole world and laid the foundation for the first official recognition and subsequent constitutional achievements,” he said in a statement.
Applauding “the liberation movement” in which “the late [Mulla Mustafa] Barzani, and all the loyal fighters and heroic Peshmerga” served as “the strength, arms and pillars of the revolution,” President Barzani emphasized “the revolution's high values of unity, solidarity, coexistence, mutual acceptance and peace.”
“Just as the victory and survival of the September Revolution was the product of unity, today the only way to protect federalism, the status of the Kurdistan Region, constitutional rights and overcome challenges is [through] unity and strengthening the spirit of unity and cooperation,” he stated.
September 11 marks the 65th anniversary of the commencement of the September Revolution which led to the signing of the landmark March 11, 1970 agreement between the Ba’ath-led Iraqi government and the Kurdish leadership, securing Baghdad’s recognition of Kurdish demands, including the right to autonomy and official status of the Kurdish language alongside Arabic in Kurdish-majority areas.
Known in the Kurdish political memory as the Eylul Revolution, the uprising marked a milestone in establishing the catalyst for Kurdish foreign relations as a non-state actor within the regional sphere.
Led by Mulla Mustafa Barzani, Peshmerga unified as a national defense force to counter military offensives launched by the Ba’ath regime in an effort to establish autonomy and secure national and political demands in the face of ongoing internal power shifts in Iraq.
President Masoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), on Friday framed the September Revolution as “the source of the will, self-confidence and dignity of the Kurdish people” and the “foundation for the continuation of the Kurdish people's struggle and resistance against oppression” as well as “a source of strength and inspiration for the later stages of the liberation struggle of our people and Kurdish fighters in all other parts of Kurdistan.”
He praised the “historic role of all the Peshmerga and heroic fighters who contributed to the record of this national sovereignty,” lauding their sacrifice as “the foundation of sovereignty for their people.”
Likewise, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani commemorated the historic day which “saw members of all ethnic and religious communities unite to secure the fundamental rights of the people of Kurdistan,” he said in a post on X, reaffirming “the need for unity and solidarity among all Kurdish political forces and parties.”
“Together, we remain committed to defending, upholding, and advancing the constitutional status of the Kurdistan Region and our collective national achievements,” he added, saluting “the enduring memory of the martyrs of this revolution and all martyrs of Kurdistan.”
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