Biography

Omar Aziz Ado, known as Shekhomer Aziz Ado, a Peshmerga and companion of Barzani to the Soviet Union, was born in 1934 in the village of Kanyeder, Mergasor district, Erbil Governorate. In 1975, after the collapse of the Aylul Revolution, he became a refugee in the country of Iran and returned in 1976. In 1981, he became a refugee in the country of Iran again and returned to Southern Kurdistan in 1994.

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 fatigue, 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, Ayulakh, 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 complex 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 (Kolkhoz) (lands that people rented from the government and later returned the government's share). 

After much effort and sending 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 Vrevitsky. Therefore, he went to the city of Vrevitsky 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, he and his companions returned to Kurdistan via the port of Basra in the south of the Republic of Iraq on the ship Grozia.

In 1970, he joined the Peshmerga Forces of the Aylul Revolution and participated in its battles. In 1982, he rejoined the Peshmerga Forces of the Gulan Revolution and participated in its battles. 

Sources:

1- Hamid Gawhari, The Barzani Medal is the highest honor award, 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: The 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, Geographical 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 martyred commander Hasso Mirxan Zhazhoki, 62 Days with Barzani: The Departure 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 Yezdin, First Edition, (Pirman - Golden Jubilee of the Kurdistan Democratic Party - 1996).

12- Archive of the Kurdistan Democratic Party Encyclopedia Board.