When Britain decided in the 1920s to annex Southern Kurdistan to the Iraqi state without consulting its people or granting them a genuine opportunity to determine their own future, the decision was not merely a passing political step. It marked the beginning of a long path of pain, deprivation, and struggle for identity and rights. The Kurds were demanding fundamentally simple rights: a dignified life, recognition of their national existence, the preservation of their identity, and the right to participate in managing their own affairs. However, Baghdad and London chose the language of force over dialogue at many stages, responding to these demands with cannons, tanks, and aircraft that reached villages, burned fields, and displaced families.
In those harsh moments, the Kurds had no choice but to cling to a thread of hope. With every military campaign, a new determination to survive and defend their rights was born. The Barzan revolutions in the 1930s and 1940s represented early milestones along this path, preceding the defining moment on the morning of September 1961 when the revolution erupted under the leadership of Mullah Mustafa Barzani, turning a new page in the history of the Kurdish cause.
The September Revolution was not merely a military battle; it was a deeply human story in every detail. It was a mother bidding farewell to her son as he joined the ranks of the Peshmerga, a young girl taking shelter in a cave from airstrikes, an elderly man hiding bread and water for the fighters, and a farmer leaving his land and village in search of safety. Behind every fighter in the mountains stood a waiting family, and behind every martyr lay the story of a life cut short, which transformed into a fragment of a whole nation’s collective memory.
During September, the struggle was not exclusive to a single component. Various national and religious groups living in Kurdistan—including Kurds, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Turkmen, and others—interwined along its journey. This reflected the diverse nature of Kurdistan’s society and reinforced the principle that security, dignity, and rights are a shared responsibility for all people of the region.
From Zakho to Badra, and from the mountains to the plains, the revolution expanded into a broad space for struggle and memory. It gave the Kurdish person a renewed sense of capability to defend their existence and rights, instilling the belief that the geography where their ancestors lived could serve as the foundation for building a future they help shape, rather than a land managed by decisions made far from their will.
Over fourteen years, the people of Kurdistan paid heavy prices. Martyrs fell, families were displaced, villages were destroyed, and mothers lived in anticipation of sons who never returned. Yet those sacrifices were not in vain. The revolution impelled the Iraqi regime to recognize the rights of the people of Kurdistan in the historic Declaration of March 11, 1970, which served as a pivotal turning point in the trajectory of the Kurdish cause and opened the door to a new phase of recognizing national rights.
However, the path was not smooth. The Algiers Agreement of 1975 dealt a severe blow to the revolution, bringing the military phase of September to an end; yet, the cause itself did not end. The idea remained alive in the consciousness of the people, passing from one generation to the next, before returning with renewed spirit in the May (Gulan) Revolution. This long path ultimately culminated in the popular uprising of 1991, which paved the way for establishing the Kurdistan Parliament and the Kurdistan Regional Government, laying the groundwork for a political and institutional experience that later developed into part of the Iraqi constitutional system.
For this reason, September cannot be reduced to the date of a revolution’s outbreak or a sequence of military battles. It is the memory of a nation, a foundational stage in Kurdish political consciousness, and a bridge connecting generations that carried the same cause using different tools: from the rifle in the mountains to the ballot box, from resistance to formal institutions, and from battlefields to political and diplomatic arenas.
On the sixty-fifth anniversary of the outbreak of the September Revolution, memories resurface with all the sacrifices, pain, and hope those years entailed. Sixty-five years have passed since the day September turned into a symbol of Kurdistan’s struggle. Its impact did not stop with the generation of the revolution; it extended to subsequent generations, shaping the current reality of the Kurdistan Region and its present constitutional rights and institutions.
On this anniversary, the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Masrour Barzani, emphasized the importance of unity and consolidating stances among all political forces and parties in Kurdistan, stressing that this unity serves as the fundamental guarantee for protecting the Region’s constitutional status and developing its national gains.
In a statement commemorating the sixty-fifth anniversary of the September Revolution, the Prime Minister recalled the struggle of the Peshmerga and all participants in the revolution, which united Kurdistan’s diverse national and religious components. He affirmed that the revolution achieved notable historical gains, foremost among them compelling the Iraqi regime at the time to recognize the rights of the Kurdistan people through the historic March 11 Declaration of 1970.
This message holds special significance on the anniversary of September because history does not grant nations their gains once and for all. Rights require protection, institutions require consolidation, and internal unity remains an essential element in facing challenges that could threaten what has been achieved after decades of sacrifice.
September began in the mountains, but it did not end there. It emerged from among the rocks into the cities, moved from the Peshmerga trenches into institutions, and transitioned from the memory of martyrs to new generations born seeing Kurdistan’s institutions established, experiencing a political journey that would not have been possible without the sacrifices of those who preceded them.
Therefore, September remains a human revolution before being a military event, marking a moment of rebirth in the history of Kurdistan—a rebirth that was not easy and was not written in ink alone, but engraved in blood, tears, patience, and sacrifice.
On its sixty-fifth anniversary, September does not merely look back at the past; it also looks toward the future. It serves as a reminder that preserving gains, strengthening unity, consolidating institutions, and safeguarding coexistence among the people and components of Kurdistan are responsibilities entrusted to the generations that inherited the fruits of that struggle.
September was not just fourteen years of war; it was fourteen years of forging memory and will. That is why its name remains alive after sixty-five years, and the stories of its men, women, and martyrs remain an enduring part of the story of modern Kurdistan.
Note: This text is translated from the original Arabic version… Read the Arabic version:Click here
