Biography

Taha Yasin Shukr was born in 1919 in the village of Meroz, affiliated with the Sherwan Mazin sub-district in the Mergasor district of Erbil province. Before going to the Soviet Union, he was married, and his wife's name was Misrikhan Aziz Ahmed; they had one son. He also established a married life in the Soviet Union, and his wife remained in the Soviet Union. After returning from the Soviet Union, in 1960, he worked as an employee with Majid Bosi in the Akre forest. In 1978, he was relocated by the Ba'ath regime from the village of Meroz to the Goretu complex. In 1990, he was relocated again to the Shakholan complex. He was proficient in Kurdish, Russian, and Turkish languages. He passed away on September 18, 1993, in the Shakholan complex and was buried there.

Struggle Record

On May 23, 1947, he accompanied General Mustafa Barzani toward the Soviet Union and participated in the Battle of Gali Qotur and the Battle of Maku Bridge. After much hardship and exhaustion, on June 18, 1947, he crossed the Aras River, which is located on the border between Iran and the Soviet Union, into the Soviet Union.

After arriving in the Soviet Union, on June 19, 1947, he and all his companions were placed in the city of Nakhchivan in the Republic of Azerbaijan for forty days in an open-air complex surrounded by barbed wire. They were guarded by a group of soldiers and were treated like prisoners of war in terms of food, clothing, and movement. Later, by the decision of the Soviet government, they were distributed among the regions of Aghdam, Lachin, Ayulakh, and Kalbajar in the Republic of Azerbaijan. On December 10, 1947, they were moved to a military camp on the Caspian Sea in Baku, the capital of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and on the 23rd of the same month, they were given military uniforms and, under the supervision of the officers of the Republic of Azerbaijan, were given eight hours of military training daily. At the same time, for four hours a day, some of their companions who were literate taught them the Kurdish language.

After the poor treatment of his companions by Jafar Baghirov, it was decided to move the military camp on August 29, 1948, from the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Charchuk complex near Tashkent, the capital of the Republic of Uzbekistan, where they continued their military training.

In March 1949, he and his companions were distributed in groups and squads by train across the collective villages of the Soviet Union and worked on the collective farms (Kolkhozes) (lands that people rented from the government and later gave the government's share back).

After much effort and sending several letters by General Barzani to Stalin, a letter finally reached Stalin in which Barzani described the hardships of his companions, and he immediately ordered the formation of a committee to investigate the situation of Barzani's companions. Eventually, the committee's decision was for them all to be gathered in the city of Vrevitsk, so he went to the city of Vrevitsk in the Soviet Union in November 1951.

After the July 14, 1958 revolution in Iraq and the return of General Mustafa Barzani, on February 25, 1959, and according to both the third and seventh articles and paragraph (a) of the tenth article, and by applying article (11) based on the amended Law No. 19 of 1959, he and his companions were covered by the general amnesty.

In 1958, the Republic of Iraq was established under the presidency of Abdul Karim Qasim. On April 16, 1959, he and his companions returned to Kurdistan by the ship Grozia via the port of Basra in the south of the Republic of Iraq. 

 In the Year 1961, he participated in the Aylul Revolution and participated in the battles of Gali Spi, Zawita, Ain Zala, Atrush Mountain, Matin, and Sari Safin. In 1970, he became a Commander, replacing Hashim Merozi. From (1970-1975), he was at the Barzani Headquarters in Dilman.

Sources:
  1. Archive of the Kurdistan Democratic Party Encyclopedia Board.
  2. Hamid Gardi, Summary of History, First Edition, (Erbil - Aras Publishing and Distribution House - Ministry of Education Press - 2004).
  3. Sha'ban Ali Sha'ban, Some Political and Historical Information, Third Edition, (Erbil - Rojhalat Press - 2013).
  4. Salih Yusuf Sufi, Chronology of Kurdistan and the World, First Edition, Volume Two, (Duhok - Duhok Governorate Press - 2013).
  5. Omar Farouqi, Sardar Dana: Life and Struggles of the Late Mullah Mustafa Barzani, Second Edition, (Erbil - Ministry of Education Press - 2002).
  6. Abdulrahman Mullah Habib Abubakr, Barzan Tribe between 1931-1991, First Edition, (Erbil - Ministry of Culture Press - 2001).
  7. Hataw Magazine, Issue 154, Sixth Year, Erbil, Kurdistan Press, Friday, April 15, 1959.
  8. Laith Abdul-Muhsin Jawad Al-Zubaidi, The 14 July 1958 Revolution in Iraq, (Baghdad - Dar Al-Rashid for Publishing - 1979).
  9. Muhammad Salih Pendro (Jigarsuz), Cultural and Social Life of the Mizoori Bala Region, (Erbil - Rojhalat Press - 2020).
  10. Masoud Barzani, Barzani and the Kurdish Liberation Movement 1931-1958, (Duhok - Khabat Press - 1998).
  11.