Jurist and politician, Hamza Abdullah Omar Ashur, has been known by the names Lezgin, Mela Rahim, and Mela Ibrahim. In the year 1936 he was a member of the central committee of the Iraqi Communist Party. In the year 1945 during the second Barzani revolution (1943 - 1945) he was a member of the Freedom Committee. In the year 1946 in the city of Mahabad he was a member of the founding committee of the Kurdish Democratic Party and in the same year and at the first congress of the party he was elected as a member of the central executive committee (central committee) and later as secretary and member of the political bureau of the party. Due to non-adherence to party decisions and failure to assist party organizations, he was removed from membership by the central committee. In the summer of 1951 he was arrested by the central government of Iraq and was exiled to the country of Turkey. During the time of being taken to Turkey, he managed to escape in Zakho and return to the city of Sulaymaniyah. After returning, he made contact with disgruntled party members and especially members of the Sulaymaniyah branch, who after a dispute with the central committee of the party had been expelled; Hamza Abdullah and the Sulaymaniyah branch did not agree and founded a new party called the progressive wing of the Kurdish Democratic Party - Iraqi in the year 1952. In the year 1956 after the dissolution of his party, Hamza Abdullah returned to the ranks of the party and by the decision of the central committee, Hamza Abdullah became a member of the central committee of the Party. In the year 1959 and at the fourth congress he was permanently expelled from the Kurdistan Democratic Party. 

Biography

Hamza Abdullah, whose family is from the city of Van in North Kurdistan, was born in East Kurdistan after migrating in the year 1915 and later migrated to South Kurdistan. In the year 1931 he completed the preparatory stage of the scientific department in the city of Mosul. In the year 1932 he was admitted to the College of Law in Baghdad and obtained a bachelor's degree. In the year 1947 he married teacher Naima Fatah Ahmed 2003 the sister of lawyer Ibrahim Ahmed. On the 13 of December 1998 he passed away in the city of Sulaymaniyah and according to his will was buried in the cemetery of the village of Sitek. He was an expert in the Kurdish, Arabic, English, and Russian languages.

Work History

In his youth, Hamza Abdullah worked in several political parties and associations such as the Youth Memorial Association 1933 and the Iraqi Communist Party 1934 and the (Al-Ahali) newspaper group which was the only opposition newspaper of the Iraqi monarchy era 1934 and the National Reform Association (Al-Islah Al-Sha'bi) 1935.

 

During the second Barzani revolution (1943 - 1945) he was a member of the Freedom Committee and in the year 1946 he was a member of the founding committee of the Kurdish Democratic Party. In the same year and at the first congress he was elected as a member and later as secretary of the central executive committee (central committee) of the Kurdish Democratic Party and later became a member of the political bureau of the party and in the same year he published the first issue of the Rizgari newspaper, the organ of the Kurdish Democratic Party.

 

In the year 1951 he participated in the opening day of the second congress of the Democratic Party, later he left the place where the congress was held and despite that he was elected as a member of the central committee, but because of non-adherence to the decisions of the second congress of the party and failure to assist the organizations, he was expelled by the central committee.

 

In the summer of 1951 he was arrested by the central government of Iraq and was exiled to the country of Turkey and during the time of being taken to Turkey he managed to escape in Zakho and return to the city of Sulaymaniyah. After returning, he contacted disgruntled party members and especially members of the Sulaymaniyah branch who had been expelled from the party after his dispute with the central committee, they did not agree and in the year 1952 he founded a new party called the progressive wing of the Kurdish Democratic Party - Iraqi.

 

In the year 1953 and at the third congress of the Kurdistan Democratic Party - Iraq he was expelled from the ranks of the party for the first time, but in the year 1956 after receiving a letter from General President Mustafa Barzani for the unification of both sides of the party into one entity and structure, he returned and became a member of the central committee and later the political bureau of the United Kurdistan Democratic Party - Iraq.

 

The rise of the communists after the coup in the year 1958 affected the party and slowly the party was heading towards fragmentation, especially through those cadres of the Communist Party who had previously established a relationship with the ranks of the party. At this time, the contact of the communists with the party organizations and their influence on Hamza Abdullah, caused them to take control of the party in a short time and in the first step they expelled Ibrahim Ahmed, the secretary of the party, on charges of right-wingism and made Hamza Abdullah the secretary of the Party in his place.

 

In the year 1959 Hamza Abdullah attempted to eliminate the United Kurdistan Democratic Party within the organizations of the Iraqi Communist Party and for this reason, the support and allegiance of the Communist Party slowly spread towards the base and members of the party. Regarding this situation, a lot of investigation by the organizations and members of the party reached Mustafa Barzani (1903 - 1979) who were demanding an end to this situation and the holding of a party congress. The political bureau of the party did not agree with this request, for that reason Mustafa Barzani requested a meeting of the central committee of the party and on the 30 of June 1959 the central committee met and in the end, the decision to expel Hamza Abdullah was made. In the year 1959 for the second time at the fourth congress of the party, due to his left-wingism and his secret relationship with the Communist Party, he himself and his friends were expelled from the ranks of the party.

 

In the year 1964 he stood against the political bureau side and their decisions and supported President Mustafa Barzani and after the March 1970 agreement, he visited President Mustafa Barzani in the village of Dilman in Erbil province.

 

His works:

1 - Barzani Revolution 1959 - translated from Arabic to Kurdish by Muharram Muhammad Amin.

Sources:

1- The Kurdistan Democratic Party Encyclopedia Committee, History of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, ( Erbil - Rojhilat Printing House - 2021 ).

2- Hoshyar Nuri Lek, Prominent Kurds in a period, ( Erbil - Char Chira Printing House 2010 ).

3- Mahdi Muhammad Qadir, Political developments in Iraqi Kurdistan 1945 - 1958, ( Sulaymaniyah - Kurdistan Center for Strategic Studies 2005 ).

4- Shiwan Muhammad Amin Taha Khoshnaw, Erbil between the years ( 1958 - 1963) a study on the political situation, ( Erbil - Rojhilat Printing House 2012 ).

5- Shiwan Muhammad Amin Taha Khoshnaw, Erbil between the years 1963 - 1970 a historical study on the political situation, ( Erbil - Salahaddin University Printing House 2016 ).

6- Salih Bichar, Hamza Abdullah greater than neglect, Kurdistani Nwe Newspaper, Organ of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Yadgar supplement (Memory Supplement), issue 8072, twenty-ninth year, Sulaymaniyah, Thursday 30 of January 2020.

7- Sadiq Salih, A glimpse of the biography of Hamza Abdullah, Kurdistani Nwe Newspaper, Organ of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Yadgar supplement, issue 8072, twenty-ninth year, Sulaymaniyah, Thursday 30 of January 2020.

8- Ahmed Bawer, Contemporary history of Iraq 1914 - 1968 ( Sulaymaniyah - Karo Printing House 2018 ).

9- Khalil Abdullah, Hamza Abdullah, a Kurdish symbol, Kurdistani Nwe Newspaper, Organ of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, issue 8045, twenty-eighth year, Sulaymaniyah, Tuesday 24 of December 2019.

10- Lawyer Hamza Abdullah, "A national political manuscript document", K magazine, issue 21 - 2 - 3 - 2008.

11- Habib Muhammad Karim, History of the Kurdistan Democratic Party - Iraq (In main stations) 1946 - 1993, ( Duhok - Xebat Printing House 1998 ).

12- The passing of the Kurdish national militant, Professor Hamza Abdullah, Xebat Newspaper, mouthpiece of the Kurdistan Democratic Party - Unified, issue 905, Friday 18 December 1998.

13- Karim Shareza, The national militant Hamza Abdullah, Xebat Newspaper, mouthpiece of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, issue 946, Friday, Erbil, 15 October 1999.