page_title: Kurdistan Democratic Party
section_title: Under Saddam Hussein
hierarchical_section_title: Kurdistan Democratic Party / History / Under Saddam Hussein
context_page_description: The Kurdistan Democratic Party, usually abbreviated as KDP or PDK, is the largest party in Iraqi Kurdistan and the senior partner in the Kurdistan Regional Government. It was founded in 1946 in Mahabad in Iranian Kurdistan. The party claims it exists to combine "democratic values and social justice to form a system whereby everyone in Kurdistan can live on an equal basis with great emphasis given to rights of individuals and freedom of expression."
  The KDP is dominated by the Barzani tribe and described as a Kurdish nationalist big tent party.
context_section_description: In the wake of their defeat during the 1974–1975 War, Mustafa Barzani and his sons Idris and Masoud fled to Iran. The power vacuum they left behind was thus filled by their ideological nemesis Jalal Talabani, who, together with his leftist supporters announced in Damascus the formation of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
  By 1976 Idris and Masoud Barzani were beginning to regroup in Europe, launching the KDP "Provisional Leadership" (KDP-PL). The Provisional Leadership repositioned itself formally as a Leftist organization. Mahmud Uthman took control of operations in Iraqi Kurdistan until 1979. Masoud Barzani returned from Iran after the death of his father and assumed the leadership of the party.
  Despite the terrible hardships suffered by the Kurds as a whole, intra-Kurdish feuding did not cease following the 1974–1975 war, as KDP groups ambushed and killed PUK fighters on several occasions in 1976–1977. Talabani vowed revenge, and at various moments ordered his troops to fire upon any KDP troops – but suffered from operational weaknesses compared to the KDP. Feuding and splitting continued throughout the late 1970s, as the KDP, PUK, and KDP-I jostled for influence and funding from neighboring states.
  At the commencement of the Iran–Iraq War, Saddam Hussein was able to publicly boast that "the Kurdish organizations would never be able to achieve anything since they are hopelessly divided against each other and subservient to foreign powers."  In April 1981, the KDP, Iraqi Communist Party, and the newly formed Kurdish Socialist Party colluded to attack PUK positions in Erbil governorate. The following month the PUK counter-attacked, killing 50 communists and capturing another 70. Each party accused the other of being in the pocket of Baghdad, and even Ankara.
  Iran started to work closer with the KDP against Saddam's Iraq, and by 1983 the threat of an Iranian incursion into Iraq via Kurdistan became a real one. The KDP allowed Iran to seize the famous Iran–Iraq border crossing of Haji Omaran, a move that one Western diplomat called "a stab in the back Saddam will never forget". Subsequently, Saddam gained his vengeance on the Barzani clan. 8,000 Barzani males – including pro-government "jash" – were abducted and paraded through the streets of Baghdad before being executed.
  Meanwhile, the PUK had announced a ceasefire with Baghdad in order to consolidate its recent territorial gains. The move backfired, as over 3,000 PUK fighters defected to the KDP in order to continue to war against Saddam.
  As Saddam was assured of support both financial and militarily in his war against the Islamic Republic of Iran not only from the US, but from France, Britain, and the USSR, the Kurdish groups eventually came to the realization that they must unite against the common foe (Saddam). In 1986 the KDP, PUK, KSP, and ICP announced a joint declaration calling for unity against the Ba'ath regime and in November Masoud Barzani and Jalal Talabani finally met to form an official alliance, in Tehran. By May 1987 the KPDP, Pasok, Kurdistan Toilers' Party, and the Assyrian Democratic Movement all joined what was known as the Kurdistan Front, and now all Kurdish parties were receiving monetary and military support from Iran.
  With the Kurds in a seemingly stronger position than in any time since the 1960s, and their betrayal in the mind of Saddam complete, large-scale repression commenced. In Sulaymaniyah (PUK territory) Saddam rounded up 500 male children, aged 10–14, and had a substantial number of them tortured before being killed.
  The KDP and PUK received advanced weaponry from Iran, such as SAM-7 missiles, that allowed them for the first time in decades to capture and hold military centers and civilian territory from the Iraqi Army. As Saddam felt increasingly threatened, he commissioned his cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majid also known as Chemical Ali for his use of chemical weapons against Kurdish towns such as Halabja, to launch the Al-Anfal campaign. Thousands of Kurdish villages were destroyed, and at least 180,000 civilians perished.
caption: Former flag of KDP