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By Dr Fereydun Rafiq Hilmi:
In two sessions of a three-part interview with NRT, Mukaram Talabani made a number of claims and comments which were controversial to say the least. I have listed the discrepancies below and would like the public to be aware of them.
Historical Introduction
Hiwa was an important party that generated a great deal of patriotism that did not exist or was dormant in the whole of Kurdistan. During Sheikh Mahmud era (1917 – 1920) my father, Rafiq Hilmi, had already been involved in the Hevi or Hope group in Istanbul.
Turkish revivalist movements led by Mustafa Kemal were resented by non-Turks who had for centuries worked as Ottomans for the glory of the Empire, sacrificing life and limb for that purpose. Everyone from Greek, Armenian, Arab and other nationalities had forfeited their own national interests because they had been part of the Ottoman state. Once Mustafa Kemal came upon the scene and started his fascist movement these minorities found themselves without a national cause that represented them. Right from the time of the Union and Progress the minorities were deprived of a place in the future Turkey.
At that time the Kurds, as the original inhabitants of Anatolia, were probably the most integrated (by force of course) of those minorities without a political or state entity. Rafiq Hilmi and colleagues in Turkey realised this and worked to found the Hevi group to fight for Kurdish rights.
Kemal however was able to dupe the Kurds and in some cases he made them enemies of the Armenians and Christian minorities and prevailed in the regions wrenched from the hands of the British and nearly managed to claim Mosul back as well. Turkish troops had actually held Mosul before the Lausanne treaty was signed and the fate of the South Kurds became dependent on the British. The Wilson 14 point declaration, Sevres Treaty and the uttering by Churchill in the British parliament indicated to Rafiq Hilmi and Hiwa that there could be a deal struck with the British for the establishment of a Kurdish state. In addition many British officers were inclined to support that aim, such as Major Noel and Major Soane, although others who had courted and befriended the Arabs such as Gertrude Bell and T.E Lawrence (of Arabia) were much more successful particularly because there were enough Arab Sheiks and leaders who could be worked with, unlike the case of the Kurds who were displaying far more Islamic prejudices than the Arabs themselves. During the early years of occupation Col Wilson, who was Iraq’s governor, took a dislike to Sheikh Mahmud but did not know what to do with him as the people supported him while he could not be trusted by the British.
That era passed and, after the end of the Sheikh Mahmud era in the mid-thirties, Hiwa was born to try Kurdish Real Politics and that too failed because of insufficient talent and expertise in politics.
Hope was re-formed in Kurdistan and links and ties with Kurds in Turkey, Iran and Syria had been formed and the Bedirkhani princes were re-established and a great deal of political awareness and activisation was achieved but treacherous behaviour by opportunists and sycophants prevented any possibility of a free and independent Kurdistan which the Kurds deserved and wanted. Instead we ended up being the western client sub-state that we are today and “Hope” Was Defeated.
Response to Mukaram Talabani
Sheikh Mahmud (SM)
Rafiq Hilmi (RH)
Majid Mustaf (MM)
Fuad Arif (FA)
Mustaf Nariman (MN)
Ibrahim Ahmad (IA)
Mukaram Talabani (MT)
1. Mukaram Talabani (MT) was not making his suspect claims for the first time. In 1996 he had been refuted by the very people he was claiming to have received a confidential letter by Majid Mustaf (MM) to Rafiq Hilmi (RH) via MM’s nephew Fuad Arif (FA), by FA and other senior Hiwa members who were still alive.
2. Having listed his own tribal roots, all of which were Sheikhs (to about seven generations at least), MT claimed at start of the interview that Hiwa was ineffective because it was in the main tribal. At the end however he does his usual logical acrobatics and claims the party was a general one containing tribes as well as left-wing and communist cells.
3. He sent a copy of a letter sent by RH to MM claims he got from FA (nephew of Majid Mustafa who was a great childhood friend of RH) vehemently denied by FA as well as Mustaf Nariman (MN) to Hiwa Central Committee.
4. MT claimed the alleged letter was in reply to one by Majid (which no one has ever seen) proposing a deal whereby he becomes vice-president of Hiwa and that would then make it possible for RH to join the cabinet.
5. In the letter he claims RH was telling Majid off for lying to him on too many occasions and refusing to work with him in politics.
6. MT claims he asked the Hiwa Central Committee (who he also claims were actually the same people he was involved with when they were still the Darkeran committee just before Hiwa was founded in 1938 (MT aged only 13 at the time) for an investigation of why RH was bargaining with Majid Mustafa without the knowledge of the Central Committee. Apart from its treacherous nature, this apparent protest by a fledgling against a highly respected senior leader with great prior standing is itself an indication of an immature and childish mentality.
7. In the interview it is made clear that MT was of course at the ime aged 13 or 14 (he went to school aged 6 or 7 in 1931, then went to intermediate school in 1937, Hiwa was born in 1938 so MT must have been around 13-14 years old). Yet he claims to have been a founder member of Darkeran that went on to ask RH to become its leader in 1938. Just 6 tears later (MT aged only 20) the Hiwa party had dissolved and the incident of the letter being sent must have been when MT was in his mid to late teens.
8. Hiwa central committee (the organ MT was warning and alerting against RH) however, decided to kick not only him but all the communists or sympathisers out of the party.
9. This if true means:
(a) MT must have been a member of the youth group and had ambitions of becoming a full member by this heinous act against his leader.
(b) He could never have received a confidential letter between a minister and a party leader as he claims and from the nephew of the minister himself.
(c) The HIWA central committee must have had full trust in their leader and that is why MT got the sharp end of the stick along with the other trouble makers.
(d) MT’s account of the alleged letter contents did not reflect any wrong doing on the part of RH since it was a response to one sent to him by Majid Mustafa containing an offer which he had rejected outright. Even today MT has not realised the implication so it would be a miracle if he had understood them at the age of 17-18 when he was kicked out of the party.
(e) MT obviously has held a grudge against RH because he must have assumed that it was he and not the party central committee that brought about his end in the party rather than realising and apologizing for his naivety and dishonest behaviour.
(f) The NRT interviewer also displayed a certain amount of naivety. Having heard why MT was kicked by the central committee he asked the following questions.
i. “.. so the bargaining by RH was to gain a political post in government…?”, instead of drawing the conclusion that RH did not but could have accepted the offer from MM and yet he turned him down accusing him of previous lies being the reason for distrust.
ii. What the NRT interviewer should have asked: on what was MT basing his claim that he knew what the terms offered by Majid Mustafa.
iii. He should also have asked MT how was it he was not a supporter of the Communist party and yet he ended up the leader of that party went to Eat Germany to study on the East German government account and then came back and spent a life time in the party culminating his “political life” as a minister in the government of (ultra fascist Saddam government), the biggest enemy the Kurds have ever known?
iv. Finally, the interviewer should have asked him this: You have claimed to be a “founding” member of the Hiwa party which was created by the Darkaran and yet the co-founders of Darkaran (at 13), (now Central Committee members of Hiwa) kicked you out the moment you sent them a letter purporting to be in their best interests. Why???
(g) In 1943 (when MT was a mere 17 year old) RH (covertly and with the aid of the late Sheikh Latif, son of the Sheikh Mahmud) and other trusted Hiwa members ) dispatched the late Barzani to go to Iran to help Qazi Muhammad (who became President of the Republic of Mahabad), and establish that first Kurdish republic. At that time MT was a mere youth with no role in Hiwa while hundreds of thousands of people of all walks of life were working tirelessly for the party and Kurdistan. Of those were all the great names of Kurds you have ever heard of and MT would be totally out of his depth as a secondary school boy of 17 with confused allegiances. The truth is RH had met Barzani while working in the south of Iraq and Barzani, exiled to that region, had agreed with him to visit Slemany and then arranged for him to go to Iran with the aid of the tribes of whom Sheikh Latif (son of Sheikh Mahmud) was one. MT admits this grudgingly because it is clearly stated in Mr Massoud Barzani’s Book but tries to lessen the value of this act by saying RH was in Slemany and it was Sheikh Latif that helped Barzani reach Iran. Loyalty to the Kurds and Kurdistan was of such paramount importance that even the late and much more important personality than the young MT, (Ibrahim Ahmad), was not admitted into the party purely because he was unable at that time to make that commitment under oath, (The late IA admitted in the meeting Ahmad, in my presence at a remembrance day meeting held for RH, at the Kurdish Cultural Centre in London around 1998).
(h) MT also claimed that Hiwa was ineffective and could not do anything but admits that it helped Barzani to go to Iran and back into Iraq and a military campaign was underway in 1942. In fact below are just some of what Hiwa achieved:
i. For the first time in the history of Kurdistan political organisation Hiwa gathered under one roof hundreds of thousands of Kurds of all sections of society, including all intellectual, tribes men, women and people of all professions, including members of armed forces and everyone who was able to swear allegiance to the cause of Kurdishness. This was necessary because RH had seen these same groups fight over the spoils brought in and provided by the British during SM’s reign and who acted selfishly and factionally caused the demise of patriotism in favour of opportunism.
ii. For the first time the Kurds of Iraq had the ability to work as one unit to negotiate with the British and other players in the region in a ripe and responsible manner at a level close if not equal to that of the opponents.
iii. Even MT admits Hiwa leadership had obtained a pledge by the British equal if not more firm than the Balfour declaration made for the Jews in the early twentieth century.
iv. Hiwa had a great following throughout Kurdistan and was in touch with the other Kurdish political organisations in Iran, Syria and Turkey without the aid of Facebook, Twitter or any of the technologies we have abundantly today.
v. Hiwa did not only become a party of Work but its activities far surpassed that of the Communist party and its leader (Fahd, famous for his comment: The Kurds need a party of Work and not of Hope) who ended up hung and his party decimated. MT is perhaps an admirer of conflict for the sake of it.
vi. For the first time we had a party led by intellectuals with long political histories and capabilities instead of religious semiliterate leaders.
vii. With nothing more than shaky telephone lines, primitive radio and printing equipment Hiwa was managing to spread its cause and message throught all corners of South Kurdistan and even reach the other parts of Kurdistan effectively. Anyone who was anybody wanted to join and those able to declare loyalty to the cause were allowed in. The party and its leader in particular helped and assisted thousands of Kurds find posts suiting them and schools to graduate from. Many thousands owed their future and some even their presence to RH and Hiwa. RH and Hiwa were not a jingoistic party whose aim to be simply disruptive & trouble making. However when it was prudent and beneficial they went out without hesitation to support the cause. That is why their members went to Iran and gave their lives for the cause and that is also why they faced jail and hanging in Baghdad.
viii. When the late Barzani asked for demonstrations, RH was able to help in many other ways without upsetting deals they had reached.
ix. Individuals within the party did try to take matters into their own hands trying to force certain policies on the party. A clear example is what MT tried to do even though he was a mere insignificant member at the time. Well-balanced people will understand that no proper responsible leader will jump every time somebody asked or demanded a policy change.
x. It was Hiwa’s experience of political activism that helped the masses in Iranian Kurdistan.
xi. Those in Hiwa wishing to invite the Soviets in to remove the government as well as the British to establish a free and independent Kurdistan forgot that the Kurds within the Soviet Union’s own boundaries were treated very badly. More evidence of this came after Barzani and his tribal followers themselves ended up as refugees in the Soviet Union.
xii. Hiwa was able create and enlighten the South Kurdistan political elite to such an extent that they became the first of the four (five) parts to gain the pseudo-independence it enjoys at present. It was Hiwa before other parties and political organisations that created the atmosphere for enlightenment and political struggle for the independence and right s of our people in a logical and civilised manner.
xiii. The validity of RH’s political analysis and vision is as evident as the sun to all in the present day circumstances where only the Iraqi Kurdistan is prosperous and relatively free and independent and the left wing and communists in the Kurdish movement are, as all the rest, subservient and serving the will of the British and Americans. Even Saddam, MT’s long-time boss, caved in to US and western demands and was willing to let them rule him and his subordinates. The current Kurdish leadership realised, after many erroneous and bloody policies, not to follow emotional drives or romantic goals such communism which led to a form of pragmatism giving them such power in the end.
xiv. The error of MT’s arguments and his pursuit of communist ideologies even today, over 20 years after the demise of that ideology throughout the world, is further proof of how stubborn he is in believing he was always right when he took that infamous action against RH and the party he had become a member of for only a short period of time.
(i) On another occasion he says that a party demand to the Iraqi army (whose majority of officers in the region were actually members in Hiwa), not to fight against their Kurdish Barzani brothers because they are asking for the legitimate national Kurdish rights, but “…although approved by leader and in his name it was, in fact, written and published by the Central Committee…”. He says this, which shows a lively central committee at a time when he claims RH was short circuiting them by negotiating directly without their knowledge.
(j) By 1945 the conspiracies against Hiwa were so great that it could not maintain struggle because of shortage of funds (the party depended solely on membership fees and donation from the tribes and other personalities. Yet MT claims that Hiwa was always unable to do anything and in 1945 neededto assist the “revolution” and could not do anything.
(k) Hiwa had in its folds Kurdish Iraqi Cabinet ministers, army chiefs, lawyers of great reputation, judged doctors teachers and many, many thousands of well-educated professionals and all the South Kurdistan tribes, all of whom were ineffective in the eyes of young MT, compared to his idol Mr Fahd of the Iraqi Communist party.
(l) MT repeated several times what must be his favourite quote from Fahd about Hiwa needing to be a party of work and not one of hope. He claims in the interview that the party was engaged in empty slogans and leader glorification by constantly chanting Long Live the Great Leader. Long Live the Kurds and Kurdistan (all of which must have been a great pain to a communist with diluted patriotic feelings and Marxist slogans. MT uses the people’s feelings, (voluntary since, unlike Saddam and the current leaders, Hiwa had no power or funds obtained from the enemies of the Kurds to pay lackeys and sycophants to enforce them), to cast doubt on RH’s integrity and leadership.
10. In 1964 MT was a guest at my sister Dr Pakiza’s house in East Berlin. She was there with her husband who was the charge d’Affairs of the Iraqi embassy. I was there on a visit. He was studying there at the expense of the Communist regime and was quite angered when I criticised the East German system.
11. In his interview MT admits Hiwa helped the Iranian Kurds to establish the Kurdish political party Jianewey Kurdistan (JK), meaning Kurdistan Revival but in a way denying any credit to RH.
12. He claims that Qazi Muhammad had asked Mella Mustafa to co-ordinate Hiwa and his group but the former had made approaches to the Russians and was co-operating with the communists and the latter eventually left Kurdistan to the Soviet Union after the Russians bargained the Kurdish case for Iranian Azerbaijan. The demise of the Mahabad republic and the public hanging of Qazi Muhammad by the Iranians was the direct result of that erroneous policy.
13. Thus RH and his “ineffective leadership” and his ineffective party managed to do all that and a great deal more in six years while MT’s greatest achievements for Kurdistan has been the disruptive action of sending a forged letter to the Hiwa central committee and to become a minister for Saddam. During the 22 years of Kurdish rule in Iraqi Kurdistan, MT did not find a place in Kurdistan to help it in its new condition. Now he is enjoying rich retirement in affluence in Slemany, making very far-fetched claims.
14. The result of all that conspiratorial work and the existence of communist cells in the party culminated in the demise of the party which was the only true political party that has ever existed in Kurdistan. Today, of course, we find that all the so called political parties and their many offshoots courting the west and doing their bidding, making sure all others abide and are subjugated to the will of the erstwhile greatest enemies of MT and his ilk (i.e. the capitalist US and Britain).
15. MT then claimed that the communists had their own organisation but were also members of Hiwa at the same time. In other words having sulked all his life about being kicked out of a patriotic party because of communist links he now justifies that action. The clear conflict and contradiction in the thinking, logic and behaviour of many Kurds is very much apparent and can only be called political opportunism.
16. Begrudgingly again MT claims Hiwa did not have any effect but sent its Military member Mirhaj (later hanged with three of his Hiwa member colleagues by the British client government of Iraq after a treacherous promise that they could safely return to Iraq). Mirhaj and his colleagues set up JK in Iran and published their official newspaper which was headed ‘Long Live Kurdistan, Long Live Hiwa and Long Live The Leader of Hiwa’.
17. The interviewer, who seems to lack reason, then asks another stupid question. He asks: ‘So RH was aiming at getting Kurdish rights through the Communist Russians?’. MT said: ‘RH had contact with the British. I know this because when I was a secondary school student I went with others in the Kirkuk branch to meet with RH in Slemany but he said he had a meeting with the British political officer called Shooter that evening and we had to meet the next day’.
18. MT claims that RH believed the British (the west – there was no US influence in those days) and not the Soviets will eventually realise the Kurdish dream of self-rule but he pointedly does not mention the fact that that prediction is not 100% realised. He does say that RH had managed to get a promise, which in MT’s estimation was much stronger than the Balfour declaration given to the Jews. But he says yet nothing was done.
19. That is why after the war (ie after the demise Hiwa) the left-wing group was not happy that RH was following that line.
20. MT says that the British had been concerned because Hiwa supported Kurdistan of Iran was actually conducting democratic elections there and that could create problems in Iraq.
21. Once again he states that the party was not doing anything to help the 1945 revolution but says he and others were arrested and sentenced to death because he was still in contact with some members of the party. Squaring the circle again. He heroically does not admit that he was no longer a member of Hiwa because he had been kicked out and therefore he was jailed along with the real party members and sentenced to death. Such great heroism to defend a useless party that had kicked him out in disgrace. “We had been jailed together and pardoned together” he said in the interview “and were prepared to go to their death without admitting they were not with the party.. That was something superficial that the Hiwa leader had done. Actually I and Jalil Hushiar were going to go to the gallows with them rather than deny being members of Hiwa”.
22. Then asked why in 1946 he had not joined the Kurdish Democratic party in Mahabad. He answers:
(a) The KDP had not yet been founded yet. This clearly indicates the opportunist nature of this man. He joins and leaches parties to get to somewhere he drops a bomb shell: having denied that he was a communist supporter while a member of the youth party of Hiwa he admits he had taken part in a Marxist demonstration right from the start.
(b) He had from his secondary school year’s entertained Marxist and left-wing tendencies His political ideas were a reaction to what Hitler wasa doing and for fear that the Nazis would take over.
All of MT’s allegations against RH and Hiwa have been refuted and denied in a Kurdish publication during the lifetime of the main Hiwa members, who outlived RH, in various events and publications the last of which was in a 1996 Rengeen magazine.
