Biography

   Mirza Agha Rasho Mela Khal Hamza Mergasori was born in 1924 in the Mergasor district of Erbil province. He had married in the Soviet Union and knew the Kurdish and Russian languages. In 1945, he became a refugee in the country of Iran. In the Year 1961, he was martyred in the Battle of Sare Akre.

Struggle Record

   In 1943, he joined the Second Barzan Revolution and was one of the fighters of the Barzan force in the Republic of Kurdistan in Mahabad. On February 23, 1947, along with his comrades, they put up a fierce defense against the attacks of the Iranian army on the Republic in the Silwe region.

 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 fatigue, on June 18, 1947, he crossed the Aras River, which is located on the border between Iran and the Soviet Union, and crossed into the Soviet Union.

   After arriving in the Soviet Union, on June 19, 1947, along with all his comrades, they were placed in the city of "Nakhchivan" in the Republic of Azerbaijan for forty days in an open-air compound surrounded by barbed wire. 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 transferred 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 officers of the Republic of Azerbaijan, were given eight hours of military training daily. At the same time, for four hours a day, some of their comrades who were literate taught them lessons in learning the Kurdish language.

   After the bad treatment of the Barzani comrades by Jafar Baghirov, it was decided to move the military camp on August 29, 1948, from the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Charchuk compound near "Tashkent", the capital of the Republic of Uzbekistan, where they continued their military training.

   In March 1949, along with his comrades, they were distributed in groups and squads by train to the collective villages of the Soviet Union and worked on the Kolkhoz farms (lands that people rented from the government and later gave back the government's share).

   After much effort and sending several letters by General Barzani to Stalin, a letter finally reached Stalin in which Barzani describes the hardships of his comrades, and he immediately decides to form a committee to investigate the situation of Barzani's comrades. Eventually, the committee's decision is that they should all be gathered in the city of Vriviski, so Mirza Agha Rasho went to the city of Vriviski in the Soviet Union in November 1951.

In 1958, the Republic of Iraq was established under the presidency of Abdul Karim Qasim. Mirza Agha Rasho returned to Kurdistan on April 16, 1959, with his comrades via the Grozia ship through the port of Basra in the south of the Republic of Iraq.

In the Year 1961, he joined the Peshmerga forces of the Aylul Revolution and participated in its battles. In the same year, he was martyred in the Battle of Sare Akre.

Sources:

1- Hamid Gawhari, Barzani Medal, the Highest Honor Award, Volume One, (Erbil - Haji Hashim Press - 2015).

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

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

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

5- Abdulrahman Mela Habib Abubakr, Barzan Tribe between 1931-1991, First Edition, (Erbil - Ministry of Culture Press - 2001).

6- Abdullah Ghafur, Geographical Dictionary of Erbil, (Erbil - Kurdish Academy Publications - Haji Hashim Press - 2015).

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

8- From the memoirs of the Martyr Commander Haso Mirxan Zhazhoki, 62 Days with Barzani, The Barzanis' Journey to the Soviet Union, First Edition, (Erbil - Roshinbiri Press - 1997).

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

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

11- Najaf Quli 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 Kurdistan Democratic Party Encyclopedia Committee.