Nawshirwan Mustafa His life & times

Nawshirwan Mustafa Amin was born in Sulaimaniyah city the Kingdom of

Iraq, southern Kurdistan, in the autumn of 1944, the son of Mustafa Amin, a
senior Government tobacco inspector and his wife Khanem. Nawshirwan was
their second child and oldest son. Najia, the eldest had been born a few years
before and over the years the family grew with the addition of Najiba, then the
second son Bakhtiyar and the youngest daughter Tavga.

The family was part of a new emerging middle class; urban, non-tribal and
literate; the patriarch Mustafa, was a great proponent of education. His
daughters all attended university, going on in due course to become teachers
and headmistresses and the young Nawshirwan Mustafa grew up amongst a
growing library which spanned Persian classics from 'a conference of birds' to
scientific texts of the coming age. The familys common love was animals, the
family horse, rabbit and the collection of Partridges adding to the vibrancy of
the growing family and Nawshirwan Mustafa's lifelong love for wildlife.

The city of Sulaimaniyah, founded by Princes of the Baban family was unique
amongst the cities of Iraqi Kurdistan as having been founded by Kurds and for
Kurds in the late 18th century. The Amin family had been resident in
Sulaimaniyah since its founding, coming with the Baban princes as Mullah,
Islamic clerics who served not solely as priests but also as the cities literate
class. Nawshirwan was born in the family home, a large red mud brick
townhouse in one of the citys oldest districts; Sarshaqam, a few steps from
the cities boisterous bazaar and old grand Mosque. Built by the growing cities
first builders the house, which stands to this day in an ancient alleyway has
been given over to a refugee family, is a standing testament to the families
roots in the city.

Nawshirwan grew up in a climate of growing Kurdish national sentiment, the

first ever Kurdish republic was to be declared in neighbouring Mahabad
within two years of his birth. Sulaimaniyah itself was the centre of growing
Kurdish national fervour (the city being home to four Iraqi officers - honoured
to this day who hung for their loyalty to the new republic of Kurdistan) in the
developing Iraqi state, demonstrations against the monarchy and in favour of
Kurdish self-determination provided the backdrop to Nawshirwan childhood
and by all accounts even from a young age Nawshirwan Mustafa took an
active role in the developing Kurdish political movement.

Whilst participating in schoolboy protests in favour of Kurdish statehood and

against Iraqi monarchical despotism, Nawshirwan excelled at school.
Academic achievement was prized and expected in Mustafa Amin's growing
household and Nawshirwan delivered; consistently beating his peers
Nawshirwan had a future assured in the Iraqi Kingdoms burgeoning
bureaucracy which was undone by his own developing national sentiment.

Nawshirwan paired studying at the King Faisal School, Sulaimaniyah, with

political activity. Having joined the Kurdistan Democratic Party in 1960 at the
age of 16, Nawshirwan passionate Kurdish patriotism, strength of character
and personal dynamism marked him for leadership early on in his life. He
joined the KDP just as the organisation fell into two opposing camps, camps
which would go onto dominate Iraqi Kurdish politics for the next 50 years and
into the present day. The organisation had split along the traditional fault lines
of Iraqi Kurdish society, the north, tribal and conservative faced off against
the south, leftist and urban. Nawshirwan was naturally drawn into the orbit of
the younger generation of Kurdish patriots. With time he developed a
following amongst the new generation of politically active Kurds, being
elected in 1963 to the leadership committee of the Kurdistan Students Union.

Nawshirwan Mustafa's growing political activity went hand in hand with his
academic studies. Having graduated from his Sulaimaniyah high school,
Nawshirwan headed to the capital of Iraq, Baghdad, arriving in the city for his
university education in 1964. The Iraqi capital was then a hotbed of Arab
nationalist politics. The Hashemite Kingdom, established and supported by the
British had been brought to a violent end in 1958 in a coup come revolution
spearheaded by Colonel Abdul Karim Qasim. Qasim, a military man with
little political experience combined anti-western policies with Iraqi
nationalism. With no strong party support and combating growing pan Arab
ideology in the Iraqi army, Qasim became reliant on the Iraqi communist party
and attempted to use Mullah Mustafa and the Kurdish movements as a
counterweight against the Arab nationalists having invited Mullah Mustafa
back from exile in 1958. Qasim himself was overthrown and murdered in a
coup led by the Arab nationalists in 1963. The Baghdad Nawshirwan Mustafa
arrived in was still in turmoil as Arif fought to master the countries fractured
society. Nawshirwan Mustafas political influence in student and national
Kurdish politics grew in this feverish atmosphere. By 1967 he had graduated
from Baghdad University with a degree in Political science. He now dedicated
himself to the Kurdish national cause, working under ground, cell by cell, he
developed the organisation which would one day go onto being Baathist Iraq's
most dangerous foe, 'The Komala' (The league) which formally declared its
existence in 1972. Hand in hand with clandestine politics. Nawshirwan was by
now becoming a literary figure amongst the Kurdish intelligentsia, by 1969,
he was editor in chief of the Kurdish language monthly 'Rizgari' (Salvation),
the journal went onto became a focus for Kurdish national discourse. Sensing
the growing strength of the Kurdish national underground movement. The
Baathist partys highest governing body, the Revolutionary command council,
proscribed the Komala organisation as a terrorist entity and prohibited
Nawshirwan Mustafa's Rizgari journal in 1970. The revolutionary command
council went on to sentence Nawshirwan Mustafa to death, by this time he had
escaped from Iraq.

Heading to Vienna he enrolled at Vienna University and began studying for a

masters in international law. An exiled student, Nawshirwan embraced life in
a modern European capital, developing a lifelong love of classical music and
hiking whilst in the Austrian capital. In 1975, Nawshirwan was in the final
stages of completing his doctorate when thunder struck the Kurdish nation.

Mullah Mustafa Barzani, had signed a peace agreement with Baathist Iraq on
March 11 1970. The agreement which gave a portion of Iraqi Kurdistan
autonomy, fell apart after a meaningful solution to revenue sharing and
territory disputes could not be found. In 1974 Barzani launched another
rebellion, backed by the Shah of Iran and the United States Government,
Barzani mistakenly felt that he could win a symmetric pitched battle war
against the Iraqi Government. In 1975, the Shah of Iran met the upcoming
Iraqi Vice President, Saddam Hussein, on the side-lines of an OPEC
conference in Algiers. The Shah agreed to abandon Barzani and the Kurds in
return for territorial concessions on the disputed Iraqi-Iranian border along the
Shat-Al Arab waterway. Having solely relied on the Iranians for material,
logistical and international support, Barzanis rebellion collapsed almost
overnight with the implementation of the Algiers Accord.

Nawshirwan immediately left Vienna for Damascus where the nucleus of the
new Kurdish opposition to the Iraqi government was gathering. The most
senior members met on the 22 May 1975 at the Tatila restaurant in Damascus.
At this meeting the decision was taken to form a new political party to
continue the resistance against the Iraqi Government. On the 1 June 1975 the
new organisation was proclaimed, the Patriotic of Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
The PUK, an umbrella organisation, brought together three distinct political
parties, Nawshirwan Mustafas Komala, Jalal Talabanis Xati Gishti and
Ali Askaris Socialist party.

Jalal Talabani became the new parties, General Secretary and Nawshirwan his
deputy. The new movement, quickly moved to fill the vacuum created by the
collapse of Barzanis rebellion. Armed PUK Peshmerga units infiltrated across
the border and carried out their first military attacks in the summer of 1976.

The PUK grew, year on the year the party and its armed forces expanded their
influence. The history of the movement and Nawshirwan Mustafas life during
these times is recounted in Nawshirwan Mustafas own memoires; From the
banks of the Danube to the Nawzang valley (1975-1978), the fingers that
break each other (1979-1984) and Going around in circles (1984-1988).

In the mountains Nawshirwan shared the life of his men, living on the basic
rations, wounded several times and never compromising on his beliefs he led
from the front and established a fearless reputation. Alongside his political
role, Nawshirwan became the PUKs overall Peshmerga commander in chief.
Tactically talented, personally courageous and strategically gifted,
Nawshirwan became the Baathists armies staunchest and most feared military
opponent.
In the depths of the 1988, as Saddam ended the Iran war and turned his armies
against the Kurds to attack the Kurdish people with bullets, shells and poison
Gas. Nawshirwan managed to keep the national struggle going, moving the
forces from mountain valley to mountain top he refused to follow Mullah
Mustafas example and abandon the revolution and seek exile.

With the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Nawshirwan Mustafa sensed that an

opportunity may unfold for the Kurds of Iraq to finally achieve their long held
dream for self-governance, He began planning for the 1991 uprisings. With
the collapse of the Iraqi army in the Gulf War Nawshirwan Mustafa launched
his plan for a general Kurdistan wide uprising in March of 1991. The uprising
spread from village to town, from town to city and from province to province.
On Nawroz day 1991, Nawshirwan Mustafa was able to announce the
liberation of the last Kurdish city under Iraqi Army control, Kirkuk. Kirkuks
first liberation was not to last but Nawshirwan Mustafa had permanently
evicted Saddams forces from the Provinces of Sulaimaniya, Arbil and Dohuk
and laid the foundations for what would go on to become the Kurdistan
Region of Iraq. Nawshirwan was the most senior Kurdish leader of any
political party in Kurdistan whilst the uprisings where underway, gradually the
others returned, first Jalal Talabani returned to Kurdistan and then Massoud
Barzani, now leader of his fathers Kurdistan Democratic party which had
been based in Iran during this period.

The Kurdish parties agreed to hold the regions first elections in May 1992 to
fill the governance vacuum that had formed across Kurdistan in the wake of
the uprisings. The elections where marred by electoral fraud, especially in the
Badinan region, the stronghold of Barzanis Kurdistan Democratic Party. The
initial results gave the KDP 51 of the 100 seats up for grabs and Talabanis
PUK 49. At this point Nawshirwan Mustafa campaigned for the PUK to
accept the results, allow the KDP to form a majority government and for the
PUK to form the regions opposition. Nawshirwan feared that the proposed
PUK-KDP coalition would lead to a monopoly on power and that the lack of
an opposition in the region would cripple the regions young democracy.
Talabani and Barzani went ahead regardless, the KDP gave the PUK its one
extra seat to settle allegations of electoral fraud and the two formed the so
called 50-50 cabinet.

The PUK went ahead with its first congress in the same year, Nawshirwan
Mustafa recommended the election of all senior PUK officials be by the
partys rank and file rather than by members of the leadership so as to give the
party greater accountability now that the party had progressed from an
underground organisation to an open, democratic and modern party. The other
PUK leaders again set Nawshirwan Mustafas advice aside.

Nawshirwan Mustafa sensed that the region and his party was heading
towards totalitarianism. He left Kurdistan for London in 1992. Whilst in
London he devoted himself to writing his memoires and other books spanning
a history of Kurdish journalism, the republic of Mehabad and of the Kurdish
principalities in the Ottoman Empire.

As had been feared the 50-50 system created by Barzani and Talabani soon
headed towards chaos. The KDP in Badinan and the PUK in the Sulaimaniyah
region became entrenched, splitting the region into two distinct, separate mini-
states, by May 1994 the parties had started the Brother killing wars fighting
over the regions resources, the leadership of each party sent thousands of
young men to their deaths.

Nawshirwan Mustafa continued to live in London, being disgusted by the war

of Kurd against Kurd and that each party was used by the governments of
Iraq, Iran and Turkey to kill fellow Kurds. He pushed for peace to be made
and headed up the PUK delegation to the U.S sponsored Dublin peace talks of
1995.

The fighting culminated in the KDPs role as auxiliaries in Saddams attack

and conquest of Arbil on the 31/8/1996. Riding in on Iraqi republican guard
tanks the KDP fortified its position in Arbil and the partition of the Kurdistan
region into so called yellow (KDP) and green (PUK zones) became
permanent.
With the end of the Kurdish civil war, he agreed to return to Sulaimaniyah to
attempt to help rebuild the regions, institutions, infrastructure and economy.
On returning to Kurdistan he reassumed his position as deputy secretary
general of the PUK. And again pressed for systemic reforms both within his
own party and within the region in general.

The United States liberation of Iraq in 2003 marked the next chapter in
Nawshirwan Mustafas life. As one of the first Kurdish politicians into
Baghdad after the fall of the Baathist dictator, Nawshirwan Mustafa became
Jalal Talabanis deputy in the countries new governing council. A shrewd
negotiator, strategic thinker and deal maker Nawshirwan Mustafa pressed for
the inclusion of the Kurdish language into the new countries constitution,
pressed on the historicity of Kirkuks Kurdistani identity and secured a strong
Kurdish voice in Baghdad.

Sensing that the creation of a federal, democratic and pluralistic Iraq was a
great opportunity for the democratisation, liberalisation and modernisation of
Kurdistan, Nawshirwan Mustafa pressed for reforms within the PUK. Feeling
that a reformed, modern and transparent PUK could spearhead change in the
entirety of Kurdistan region, Nawshirwan Mustafa pressed Jalal Talabani for
internal reforms.

In 2004, Nawshirwan Mustafa circulated a petition which was supported near

unanimously amongst the PUK politburo for democratisation of the PUKs
decision making process. Talabani promised that he would move the party in
this direction. The PUK went ahead with internal elections, which were
intended to serve as the first step towards reforming and democratising the
party, however, other factions soon turned to intimidation and outright bribery
to sway the elections. Nawshirwan Mustafa having now realised that the PUK
at that time was incapable of genuine reform decided to resign from the party
he had helped found and led in the hardest of times.

Nawshirwan Mustafa submitted his resignation from the post of PUK deputy
secretary general in December of 2006, he was soon followed by his
likeminded colleague Mohammed Tofiq Rahim, then Omar Ali and soon after
thousands of other PUK members.

Kurdistan in this period was descending into an unbridled kleptocracy.

Leaders big and small with in each of the KDP and PUK had created vast
patronage networks spanning the entirety of an ever expanding and ineffectual
bureaucracy. Every position, from military general to hospital janitor was
politically appointed. The economy itself was dominated by massive
conglomerates belonging to the ruling families. Kar in the KDP zone and
Nokan in the PUK zone, these corporations backed by militia stifled any
semblance of a free market as they expanded into every facet of the economy.

The PUK and KDP had continued to maintain military forces, only paying lip
service to the idea of unified military command. Each ran not only a militia
but a growing secret police service to crush any dissent.

The parties where not content with their complete and utter domination of the
economic and political sphere. They set about occupying every aspect of
Kurdish society. From the Journalists Union to the Association of the
Disabled, the KDP and PUK ran parallel organisations which handicapped and
suffocated the emergence of any semblance of a civil society.

The liberation of Iraq, with Kurdistan being lauded as an 'island of peace'

added fuel to the kleptocratic fire. Money invested in the region was diverted
by party bosses to their private accounts rather than the poor of the region. As
ever higher towers where built in the cities the average citizen continued to
struggle with little pay, poor public services and failed schooling and
healthcare.

Before the Baath regime and Saddam had collapsed, Nawshirwan Mustafa had
always been wary of diverging from the main political parties, the KDP and
the PUK. Despite fearing the rise of totalitarianism in the Kurdistan region, it
was feared that direct opposition could quickly descend into another bout of
infighting which would only aid the Kurdish nations many enemies. Now that
the Baath had been removed and a democratic system established in Iraq with
a federal system for Kurdistan, it was felt that the time was ripe to extend
democratisation for Kurdistan.

After leaving the PUK, Nawshirwan Mustafa created the Wusha media
group in Sulaimaniyah City, comprising a radio station The sound of Gorran,
internet site Sbeiy and a Television channel Kurdish News Network which
went live on 31/12/2008. Wushas media outlets; outspoken and concentrating
on the peoples actual worries and wants turned the regions media paradigm
upside down, Again showing that Nawshirwan stood completely aside from
the regions other politicians.

Nawshirwan embarked on his final political project at this point. Setting aside
any personal considerations he formed the regions first genuine opposition.
Rallying PUK members who were unhappy with the regions current political
system, members of other parties and young people who had never
participated in politics Nawshirwan Mustafa formed Gorran, the movement
for change. Gorran was initially mocked; resource poor and in a region totally
dominated by the ageing PUK and KDP, No one could anticipate the
movements power. The KDP and PUK launched a wide ranging campaign
against Nawshirwan Mustafas new movement, supporters where assaulted,
fired from work and harassed. Nawshirwan Mustafas charisma managed to
hold his movement together in the face of the growing attacks. Gorran
differentiated itself from the revolutionary party model of the KDP and PUK,
who legitimated their rule because of their history of armed resistance to
Saddam Hussein. Nawshirwan Mustafas Gorran instead instituted the regions
first genuine political campaign, setting out a manifesto and running on an
anti-corruption, state building and liberal platform.

The movement for Change managed to beat all expectations in the first
election it contested in 2009. Despite widespread voter intimidation, ballot
stuffing and electoral fraud the movement managed to take a quarter of the
regions seats. The KDP and PUK feeling threatened when Gorrans Kurdistan
regional election results where replicated in the Iraqi national elections
clamped down on dissent. The standoff culminated in the February 2011
demonstrations, in which protestors, demanding justice and democracy faced
off against the regions security forces and scores of demonstrators were killed
when security forces opened fire. Nawshirwan used his own personal
reputation to deescalate the situation when the region was threatened with
lawlessness, chaos and the Kurdish self-governance experiment became
genuinely threatened. Nawshirwan Mustafa, the military commander of the
mountains forbade his followers from taking up arms against the regions
security forces, vowing that democracy would come to Kurdistan peacefully
and that Kurdish blood must never be spilt by Kurds again.

Gorran continued to grow and solidify into an institutional political

organisation. Initially forming the regions parliamentary opposition. The first
major opposition the region had ever seen. The movements sole aim was not
to obtain political power. Nawshirwan Mustafa always intended for Gorran to
act as an example of how democratic politics should be conducted for the
regions other political parties which were stuck in organisations more
reminiscent of the soviet era than modern liberal party politics. Leading by
example, the movement caused a sea change in the regions political dynamic
even without obtaining power. By holding the governing parties to account,
Gorran, enabled Kurdish voters to question their government for the first time
in their history. By criticising leaders previously treated as idols, Gorran was
able to show that no one was above scrutiny and by scrutinizing the budget the
movement was able to staunch the massive corruption that the region faced.

Nawshirwan Mustafa and Jalal Talabani had set their differences aside in the
Dabashan meetings in 2012 and vowed to both struggle to turn Kurdistan
region into a Parliamentary democracy and to prevent the KDP using the
Presidency as a vehicle for establishing a tyranny. The Dabashan agreement
between the PUK and Gorran failed to materialise after President Talabani
suffered a stroke.

Gorran entered its second Kurdistan region parliamentary elections in 2013.

Campaigning with minimal funds, against a political party which controlled
the local armed forces and could and did cut an opponents wages, Gorran
managed to decisively beat the PUK again, becoming the regions second
largest Parliamentary party.
Having won the PUKs stronghold in Sulaimaniyah over, the leadership of
Gorran decided to enter into a coalition government, in the hopes that the
Kurdistan Region Government could be reformed from within. Gorran as the
regions second largest party and the major party in the region most populous
Province, took the regions Parliamentary Presidency, multiple ministries
including the Peshmerga Ministry as well as the Governor of Sulaimaniyah
Province.

The Gorran representatives in government worked on a reformist agenda,

while the region suffered economic collapse as the KDP unilaterally embarked
on a failed oil policy and the terrorists of ISIS appeared on the regions long
borders.

By 2015 Massoud Barzani had been President of the Kurdistan Region for ten
years. Having been initially elected as President in 2005, then again in 2009,
the PUK and KDP had used Parliament to extend his term for two years in
2013. The KDP, Barzanis party, refused to even discuss what would be done
when Barzanis two year extension expired. Gorran in only its seventh year of
existence was able to bring the majority of the regions political parties into its
camp and push for Parliamentary discussion of Barzanis illegal moves to
permanently occupy the presidency. Sensing that democratic forces where on
the cusp of victory, the KDP launched what amounted to a coup dtat on
October 11, 2015. Cutting communications in the regional capital, sending
armed units to the Parliament building and forcing the Parliamentary President
from the regions capital, the KDP closed the regions Parliament down to
protect Barzanis expired tenure being questioned.

Nawshirwan Mustafa was by now seriously unwell, he still managed to unite

the democratic and reformist forces through sheer force of personality.
Pushing through an agreement between the PUK and Gorran to unite their
efforts. The PUK which had initially stood against Nawshirwan Mustafa, now
accepted his pre-eminence and rallied to his side. The agreement which aimed
to unite the two parties parliamentary factions, push for a parliamentary
system and curb Barzanis growing dictatorial powers was signed on May 17th
2016.

Unfortunately, Nawshirwan Mustafas life was cut short before he could

complete his lifes work; the establishment of a free, fair and strong Kurdistan.
He died of lung cancer on May 19th 2017 in his beloved Sulaimaniyah, amidst
genuine, heartfelt and unbounded sadness amongst the poor, the downtrodden
and those who had been excluded from power. The people he had spent his
life defending, the people who he lived amongst, the people who he struggled
for.

In a time when Kurdish politics is marred with corruption, when trust in

Kurdish leaders is at rock bottom, when the people are yearning for change;
Nawshirwan Mustafa demonstrated that things could change, should change
and will change for the better.

Bazo H. Tofiq.