Biography

Kakshar Ahmed Aras, a Peshmerga and companion of Barzani to the Soviet Union, was born in 1922 in the Mergasor district of Erbil province. In 1975, after the collapse of the Aylul Revolution (1961-1975), he became a refugee in the country of Iran and settled in the city of Najafabad in the Isfahan province of Iran. He passed away in 1992 in the city of Najafabad, Iran.

Struggle Record

On May 22, 1947, he accompanied General Mustafa Barzani towards the Soviet Union and participated in the Battle of Qotur and the Battle of the Maku Bridge. After much hardship and toil, 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 an open-air compound surrounded by barbed wire in the city of Nakhchivan in the Republic of Azerbaijan for forty days. 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, Ayolakh, 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, they were taught lessons in the Kurdish language by some of their companions who were literate.

After the mistreatment of Barzani's companions by Jafar Baghirov, it was decided to move the military camp on August 29, 1948, from the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Charchuk community 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 to the collective villages of the Soviet Union, where they worked on collective farms (Kolkhozes) (lands that people rented from the government and later gave a share back to the government). 

After much effort and the sending of several letters by General Barzani to Stalin, a letter finally reached Stalin in which Barzani described the hardships of his companions. He immediately ordered the formation of a committee to investigate the situation of Barzani's companions, and the committee's final decision was that they should all be gathered in the city of Vrevsky. Therefore, Kakshar Ahmed Aras went to the city of Vrevsky in the Soviet Union in November 1951.

In 1958, the Republic of Iraq was established under the presidency of Abdul Karim Qasim. On April 16, 1959, Kakshar Ahmed Aras returned to Kurdistan with his companions via the ship Grozia through the port of Basra in the south of the Republic of Iraq.

In 1961, he joined the Peshmerga Forces of the Aylul Revolution and became a Peshmerga, attained the rank of battalion commander, and participated in the battles. In 1979, he joined the Peshmerga Forces of the Gulan Revolution and became a Peshmerga.

Sources:

1- Hamid Gohari, Barzani Medal, the Highest Award of Honor, Volume One, (Erbil - Haji Hashim Printing House - 2015).

2- Hamid Gardi, Summary of History, First Edition, (Erbil - Aras Printing and Publishing House - Ministry of Education Printing House - 2004).

3- Shaban Ali Shaban, Some Political and Historical Information, Third Edition, (Erbil - Rojhalat Printing House - 2013).

4- Omar Farouqi, Sardar Dana: Life and Struggles of the Late Mullah Mustafa Barzani, Second Edition, (Erbil - Ministry of Education Printing House - 2002).

5- Abdulrahman Mullah Habib Abu Bakr, The Barzan Tribe Between 1931-1991, First Edition, (Erbil - Ministry of Culture Printing House - 2001).

6- Abdullah Ghafoor, Geography Dictionary of Erbil, (Erbil - Kurdish Academy Publications - Haji Hashim Printing House - 2015).

7- Karwan Muhammad Majid, The Barzanis from Mahabad to the Soviet Union, First Edition, (Sulaymaniyah - Paywand Printing House - 2011).

8- From the Memoirs of the Martyr Commander Hasso Mirxan Zhazhoki, 62 Days with Barzani: The Going of the Barzanis to the Soviet Union, First Edition, (Erbil - Culture Printing House - 1997).

9- Laith Abdul-Muhsin Jawad Al-Zubaidi, The Revolution of July 14, 1958 in Iraq, (Baghdad - Dar Al-Rashid for Publishing - 1979).

10- Masoud Barzani, Barzani and the Kurdish Liberation Movement 1931-1958, (Duhok - Khabat Printing House - 1998). 

11- Najaf Qoli Pessian, From Bloody Mahabad to the Banks of the Aras, Trans. Shawkat Sheikh Yazdin, First Edition, (Pirmam - Golden Jubilee of the Kurdistan Democratic Party - 1996).

12- Archive of the Encyclopedia Committee of the Kurdistan Democratic Party.