Today marks the 51st anniversary of the first Kurdish autonomy

ARK News... Today marks the 51st anniversary of the “March 11 Agreement” of 1970 which forced the then Iraqi government to grant the Kurds autonomy and some other rights.

After the negotiations between Kurds and Baghdad reached a deadlock in 1961 and the Iraqi government began military offensives against the people of Kurdistan, Kurdish leader Mustafa Barzani led an armed battle, known as the 'Ayllu Revolution,' against the Iraqi forces.

After approximately a decade of armed struggles between the Kurds and the Iraqi army, the government agreed to grant the Kurds autonomy.

The agreement was signed on March 11, 1970, between the Iraqi government and Kurds. Despite the fact that it did not last long, the agreement is considered a significant achievement in the history of the Kurdish freedom movement.

Five years later, the Iraqi government renounced the agreement in 1975 and refused the autonomy for the Kurdistan Region.

Later, Iraq signed an agreement with Iran, called the '1975 Algiers Agreement’, according to which Iraq abandoned part of the disputed land on the Iran-Iraq border, and Iran in return had to end supporting the Iraqi Kurds.

Kurdish leader and the president of ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party, Masoud Barzani, in his message: “Today marks the 51st anniversary of the March 11 Agreement, an event that due to the resilience and sacrifices of the Peshmerga and people of Kurdistan, compelled the Iraqi regime to formally, and for the first time, recognize the rights of our people.”

He added in his message saying: On this anniversary, and while we affirm our people's message of peace, coexistence, and dialogue, we remind everyone and remind them that denying and ignoring the rights of the people of Kurdistan and violating the constitutional and legal agreements and principles related to the rights of the people of Kurdistan does not in any way break the will of our people to achieve their legitimate rights. Because the people of Kurdistan have long experiences of struggle, awareness, and steadfastness, and are well aware of their rights and do not give them up.

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