Biography

Dara Tofiq Fethula was born in the city of Sulaymaniyah. In the nineteenth century, his great-grandfather Haji Ewla Axa moved from the city of Hamadan in East Kurdistan to the city of Sulaymaniyah and settled there. His brother Xesrew Tofiq Fethula (1930 - 2004) was a member of the central committee of the Kurdistan Democratic Party. In 1958, as the Secretary of the Kurdish Students Society, on the occasion of the Republic of Iraq granting permission for the return of General Mustafa Barzani (1903 - 1979) and his companions to the homeland, he presented a letter of welcome to the homeland to President Mustafa Barzani who was still living abroad in the city of Moscow at that time. In 1959, he was the Secretary of the Executive Office (Al Mekteb Al Tenfizi) of the Iraqi Democratic Youth Union, which was affiliated with the Iraqi Communist Party. From August 22 to 26, 1960, he was a representative at the fifth congress of the Kurdish Students Society in Europe (K.S.S.E) in the city of West Berlin. In 1960, he was appointed as the Secretary of the World Federation of Students and Youth. From August 21 to 25, 1961, he served as a representative at the sixth congress of the Kurdish Students Society in Europe in the city of Münster, West Germany.

Work History

Dara Tofiq Fethula after the coup of February 8, 1963, by the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party against the regime of Abdul Karim Qasim (1914 - 1963), established contact with the Peshmerga forces. In 1963, he was responsible for collecting grain as aid from the farmers of Sulaymaniyah province for the Peshmerga forces. In 1967, he worked for the Arabic-language newspaper (Al Taxî). At the beginning of 1970, by the order of General Mustafa Barzani he held a meeting in the city of Beirut (Lebanon) with Michel Aflaq (1912 - 1989), the leader of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, and they reached an agreement regarding the Iraqi Government's acceptance and approval of autonomy for Kurdistan. On January 7, 1980, he was a member of the Kurdish delegation to the Iraqi Government in the city of Baghdad for the purpose of defining the borders of the Kurdistan Autonomous Region.

 

On March 11, 1970, he was a member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party delegation in the city of Baghdad for the restoration of the March 11 agreement with the Iraqi Government. In 1970, he was a member of the preparatory committee for the eighth congress of the Kurdistan Democratic Party. In 1970, at the eighth congress, he was elected by the congress representatives as a member of the central committee of the Kurdistan Democratic Party. On Wednesday, June 24, 1970, representing President Mustafa Barzani he participated in the Kurdish writers' congress in the city of Baghdad. On January 10, 1970, he was a member of the nine-person delegation of the Kurdistan Democratic Party for negotiations regarding the autonomy of South Kurdistan with the officials of the Iraqi Government in the city of Baghdad. On September 11, 1971, he became the Editor-in-Chief of the Birayetî newspaper. On January 1, 1974, he became the Editor-in-Chief of the Birayetî newspaper. In March 1974, he was appointed by the leadership of the September Revolution as the Secretary of the Secretariat of Education and Learning, and later of Culture, Media, and Youth.

 

On April 28, 1974, after his house and family were seized by the Iraqi authorities, they were forced to move to the liberated areas without any necessities. In 1974, he collaborated with the writers of the Voice of Kurdistan Radio during the September Revolution. From mid-1974 to the beginning of 1975, he was the General Secretary of Education for the September Revolution, and later, with the passage of the law for the legislative council and the executive council of the Kurdistan Region, he was appointed with the rank of Minister of Media, Culture, and Youth, and Acting Minister of Science (Education). In 1974, he was among the founders of the listening department (Al Insat) and its section, and in December 1974, he supported the publication of the first color yearbook of the September Revolution. In 1975, he wrote articles for the Dengê Kurdistan magazine, the organ of the General Secretariat of Culture, Media, and Youth of the September Revolution. At the beginning of 1975, as the Minister of Science of the Kurdistan Region, he was presented with a letter of appreciation and honor by President Mustafa Barzani and the political bureau of the Kurdistan Democratic Party. On October 5, 1980, while on his way home from work, he was arrested by the Iraqi Intelligence Agency and disappeared, and to this day, his fate remains officially unknown. He was proficient in the Kurdish, Arabic, and English languages.

Source:

1 - Archive of the Kurdistan Democratic Party Encyclopedia Board.