Situation and reason

In 1949, Hussein Jamil was appointed Minister of Justice in the government of Ali Jawad Ayyubi, which created a favorable political environment in Iraq and most political prisoners were released. In this context, most of the leadership members and cadres of the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) such as Hamza Abdullah, Ewni Yusuf, Jalil Hishyar and Ibrahim Ahmed were released.

After his release, Hamza Abdullah, the party secretary, was allowed by the government to work to restore his Iraqi citizenship, which had been taken away from him in 1938. Hamza Abdullah requested that his membership be suspended in order to obtain Iraqi citizenship, but his request was rejected. Hamza Abdullah announced his departure from the KDP and his departure was approved by the central committee.

Upon the approval of the decision to expel Hamza Abdullah, the Koya Regional Committee and the Provisional Central Committee of Baghdad entered into conflict. When its leadership weakened, the Koya Regional Committee requested the Central Committee to reconsider its decision. The Central Committee was forced to return Hamza Abdullah and establish a new political school consisting of Hamza Abdullah, Awni Yusuf, and Ali Abdullah, with Hamza Abdullah in charge. It was also required to make preparations for the party congress. It was also requested that Salih Rushdi and Mustafa Karim hand over the party's printing equipment to the Political School, but Mustafa Karim Ghafur and Salih Rushdi did not do this, later leaving the party and starting to reveal the party's secrets. During this period, the party program was written and published by the Political School with some minor changes in preparation for the congress.

In this way, a temporary leadership was elected and the Baghdad conference failed to fulfill its mission. On the other hand, the political situation and the organizations of the KDP were very complicated, so it was decided to hold a party congress after the Baghdad Conference of 1950.

At the congress

The second congress was held on March 13 and 14, 1951, at the house of Ali Hamdi in Baghdad. Approximately 30 members from Erbil, Balek, Koya, Sulaymaniyah, Halabja, and Baghdad participated. After evaluating the political situation and party organizations and discussing problems, the participants, especially Hamza Abdullah, Ali Abdullah, and Ibrahim Ahmed, agreed to establish a new temporary central committee, on the condition that its members were not members of the previous Central Committee. After its establishment, the members of the old and new central committees should make the necessary changes to the party's program and internal regulations and prepare for the third congress.

In this congress, the name of the KDP remained the same and did not change, and the previous program and internal regulations were translated into Kurdish without any changes. Only a preface called the Political School and a preface called the Central Committee were added. It was also decided to amend the national agreement, program, and internal regulations with the help of the secretary and members of the previous leadership.

At the second congress, a temporary central committee of six members was elected to manage the work and activate the organizations, without a secretary or political school. They were Ibrahim Ahmed Fatah, Nouri Shawis, Celil Hişyar, Omar Debabe, Bekir Ismail Muhammad, and Muhammad Amin Maruf.

After the congress, the party began to implement the congress's decisions and revive its organizations. After a two-year hiatus, in September 1951, the Party published a new issue of the newspaper Rizgarî and published the newspaper Nîda Kurdistan in Arabic. In 1952, the reorganization of the fragmented committees, branches, and regional organizations began. During this period, organizations were activated in Sulaymaniyah, Halabja, Penjwen, Qaladizî, Ranya, Baghdad, Acre, Kirkuk, Hewlêr, Balek, and several other areas related to these cities. In accordance with the decision of the Central Committee, in 1952, the Kurdish Democratic Party participated in the Iraqi elections and its candidate, lawyer Masûd Mihemed Celîlzade, won in Koy. The Party also participated in the uprising of November 23, 1952 against the Iraqi regime at the time.

Internal problems

Regarding internal problems, the second congress of the party failed to resolve the issues. Although Salih Rushdi and Mustafa Karim were each asked by the congress's management committee to attend the congress, they did not attend and instead formed a new organization called the Iraqi Kurdish Democratic Party. They simply changed the name of the party to Hizib. This new party collapsed in the second half of 1952 and most of its members rejoined the KDP.

Hamza Abdullah also did not adhere to the decisions of the congress and did not help the party organizations, so he was suspended by the KDP Central Committee and after his suspension, in the summer of 1951, Hamza Abdullah was arrested by the state and a decision was made to return him to Turkey. At this time, the Iraqi government launched another campaign to arrest KDP members and each of Ibrahim Ahmed, Ali Abdullah, Omar Mustafa, Muhammad Habib, Awni Yusuf and Jalal Talabani were arrested by the government and a decision was made to send them to several cities in Iraq. However, the decision did not last long and was soon overturned. Only for Hamza Abdullah the decision remained the same and he escaped to Zakho when he was taken to Turkey and returned to Sulaymaniyah.

After his return, Hamza Abdullah contacted disgruntled party members, including the Sulaymaniyah branch, who had problems with the central committee and had been expelled by the Central Committee and followed Hamza Abdullah. Hamza Abdullah and the Sulaymaniyah branch agreed and formed a party called the progressive wing of the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iraq. Those who joined Hamza Abdullah in Sulaymaniyah were Muharram Muhammad Amin, Shahab Sheikh Nouri, Hama Karim Fethullah, Baba Tahir Sheikh Jalal and several others.

In the second half of 1952, the KDP Central Committee tried to convince Hamza Abdullah and the Sulaymaniyah branch they had named (Region 2 of the Kurdish-Iraqi Democratic Party) to return to the party. They initially agreed to return, on the condition that the expelled members be reinstated and participate in the KDP congress. Their conditions were accepted by the central committee, but Hamza Abdullah and his friends withdrew. This split in the party caused the KDP Provisional Central Committee to work urgently to hold a third congress.

Source:

1. Letter from Jalal Talabani (Pirot) to: Leader General Mustafa Barzani and his esteemed friend Mirhaj Ahmed, (5/10/1955 – Beijing), Masoud Barzani, Barzani and the Kurdish Liberation Movement, 1931-1958, Volume 1, (Hewlêr - Ministry of Education Press - 2004), Document 7.

2. History of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Congress and Conference (Program and Internal Regulations), Kurdistan Democratic Party Encyclopedia Committee, Volume 1, (Hewlêr - Roxana Press - 2021).

3. Habib Muhammad Karim, History of the Democratic Party of Kurdistan-Iraq (in the period of its leadership 1946 - 1993), (Dohuk - Xebat Press - 1998).

4. Ali Abdullah, History of the Kurdistan Democratic Party - Iraq to the Third Congress, (unknown location - 1968).

5. Salah Rashid, Mam Celal, A Look at Age, From Youth to the Republican Palace, (Sulaymaniyah – Cardo Press – 2017).

6. Abdullah Mardux, Some Memories of Brayim Ahmed, (Sulaymaniyah - Zin Center - Karo Publishing House - 2010).