Reason for convening

On June 10, 1963, the attack on Kurdistan resumed and the regime sent all the armed forces it had to the battlefields. In these attacks, the regime also received help from the regional powers in the area. The air forces of Turkey and Iran, which were members of the (CENTO Pact), were allowed to cross the Iraq border and bomb the Peshmerga bases. The Syrian army also entered Iraqi territory by land and helped the Iraqi army in the Badinan areas. All international powers, such as the Soviet Union and Britain, also began to help the Iraqi army on their part.

The Kurdistan Army, in order to defend and protect itself, opened several war fronts and repelled the attacks. During that period, by President Mustafa Barzani several telegrams were sent to the Party's Political Bureau, and Ibrahim Ahmad, the Secretary of the Party, and the Political Bureau were asked to carry out several attacks on the army in their areas on their own, but the Political Bureau, and especially Ibrahim Ahmad, did not respond to their requests, and they even prevented the commanders who were attacking government forces without their permission. These behaviors caused a coldness to develop between President Mustafa Barzani and Ibrahim Ahmad .

On November 18, 1963, the Ba'ath government was overthrown by a coup d'état by the army. After the coup, Abdul Salam Arif took power and immediately requested negotiations from the revolution's leadership. In December 1963, after President Barzani consulted with the Political Bureau, negotiations began, and Colonel Abdul Razzaq Mahmoud, the Governor of Sulaymaniyah, came to the city of Ranya as a representative of the government and met with President Mustafa Barzani، Jalal Talabani and Nuri Shaways , members of the Political Bureau, and the discussions resulted in an agreement between the two sides, and the agreement statement was announced by the government on February 10, 1964, which stated that "the state recognizes the national rights of the Kurds".

On February 17, 1964, Ibrahim Ahmad، Sayyid Aziz Shamzini and Omar Mustafa Dababa  came to Sangasar and met with President Barzani. The result of the meeting was everyone's agreement on the February 10 agreement. After staying in Sangasar for a week, Ibrahim Ahmad and his comrades returned to Mawet, where they resumed their opposition once again. This caused a large number of commanders and Peshmerga to leave Mawet and go to President Barzani in Sangasar and reveal the Political Bureau's plan to President Barzani. After the Peshmerga commanders arrived, President Mustafa Barzani held a meeting with them and after consultation, decided to remove all those commanders who had followed the Political Bureau and instead appoint other commanders who were trustworthy. The removed commanders were Jalal Talabani، Omar Mustafa Dababa، Ali Askari and Kamal Mufti. In response, Ibrahim Ahmad and the Political Bureau held the Mawet Conference on April 9, 1964, and issued a decision to suspend Mustafa Barzani from the Party leadership.  

Due to the decision to suspend President Mustafa Barzani, the Peshmerga forces were divided into two fronts. The High Committee for Supervision and Inspection, to protect the unity of the Kurdistan Democratic Party , proposed holding the Sixth Congress. For this purpose, they visited Mawet - the headquarters of the Political Bureau, and Sangasar - the headquarters of the President. As a result, President Mustafa Barzani agreed to hold the Congress, but the Political Bureau was not in favor of holding the Congress.

Holding the Congress

The Congress was held from July 1 to 7, 1964, in the town of Qaladiza with the attendance of 639 delegates. From the very beginning of the Congress on July 1, by the decision of President Mustafa Barzani, a twelve-member delegation of Congress delegates, consisting of  Ismail Malla Aziz، Ali Hajar، Majid Atrushi، Ahmad Atrushi، Fatih Muhammad Amin، Jalal Mahmud Beg Shwani, ...etc., visited Mawet so that the Mawet meeting group would attend the Congress and present their problems at the Congress, but they were not willing to participate in the Congress. Although the Congress was delayed for a few days, it began its work and issued several decisions, the most important of which were the establishment of the Revolutionary Leadership Council, the rejection of the Mawet Conference decisions, and the expulsion of fourteen members of the leadership from the ranks of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, who were Ibrahim Ahmad، Nuri Shaways, Omar Mustafa Dababa, Sayyid Aziz Shamzini، Jalal Talabani، Ali Hamdi, Abdul Rahman Zabihi, Ali Askari, Ahmad Abdullah, Hilmi Ali Sharif, Muhammad Haji Tahir, Mullah Abdullah Ismail (Mullah Motor)، Nuri Ahmad Taha and Ali Abdullah.

President Mustafa Barzani was re-elected as President of the Party by unanimous vote, and the new Central Committee of the Party was also elected, including fourteen people who were elected directly by the Congress representatives, and three people who were nominated by the President for membership in the leadership, who were Mustafa Qaradaghi, Muhammad Amin Muhammad Ali and Omar Sharif. The Congress representatives had authorized the President to select those members.

The new Central Committee consisted of:

  1.  Mustafa Barzani, President
  2. Habib Muhammad Karim, Secretary
  3.  Dr. Mahmoud Osman
  4. Salih Yusifi
  5. Aziz Akrayi
  6. Dr. Fuad Jalal
  7. Yadullah Fayli
  8. Ali Shangali
  9. Numan Isa Sharif
  10. Ismail Arif
  11. Hashim Akrayi
  12.  Ismail Mullah Aziz
  13. Sheikh Mohammed Harsin
  14. Mustafa Qaradaghi
  15. Muhammad Amin Muhammad Ali
  16. Omar Sharif
  17. Ramazan Akrayi
  18. Fatih Muhammad Amin.

Later, the Central Committee, under the presidency of Mustafa Barzani , elected the members of the Political Bureau and the Secretary, who consisted of Habib Muhammad Karim, Secretary, Dr. Mahmoud Osman، Mustafa Qaradaghi، Ismail Arif and Hashim Akrayi. The High Committee for Supervision and Inspection was elected directly by the Congress representatives, consisting of Shawkat Haji Ali, Faris Koremarki, Muhammad Mullah Qadir, Sabri Botani, Mullah Salih Haji and Mullah Haidar Muhammad Hussein.

The Congress also elected a new leadership and approved the program and internal regulations.

Sources:
  1.  Masoud Barzani, Barzani and the Kurdish Liberation Movement, 1958-1961, Volume Two, (2012).
  2.  Salah al-Kharsan, Political Currents in Iraqi Kurdistan, A Reading in the Files of Kurdish Movements and Parties in Iraq 1946-2001, (Beirut – Al-Balagh Press – 2001).
  3.  Habib Muhammad Karim, History of the Kurdistan Democratic Party – Iraq (In Key Milestones) 1946 – 1993, (Duhok – Khabat Press – 1998).
  4.  Nizar Khailani, Asaad Khailani Opens His Memoirs, (Erbil – Badirkhan Publishing and Distribution House – Hivi Press – 2014).
  5.  Abdul Sattar Tahir Sharif, Struggling with Life: Memoirs 1935 – 1971, Volume One, (Kirkuk – Arabkha Press – 2005).
  6.  Hussein Muhammad Aziz, Five Hours with (Ibrahim Ahmad), (Sulaymaniyah – Sima Press – Third Edition – 2002).
  7.  Shakib Aqrawi, Years of Ordeal in Kurdistan: The Most Important Political and Military Events in Kurdistan and Iraq from 1958 to 1980, Second Edition, (Erbil – Manara Press – 2007).
  8.  Ali Sinjari, The Kurdish Issue and the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party in Iraq, Part Three, (Duhok – Khani Press – 2012).
  9.  History of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Congresses and Conferences (Program and Internal Regulations), Volume One and Two, (Erbil – Rojhalat Press – 2021).