 | | |
| 1920 | Treaty of Sevres, which carved up the Ottoman Empire after World War I,
calls for the creation of an autonomous Kurdish state. Instead, the Kurds are
split up, with their population living mainly in Iran, Iraq and Turkey. |
|
| 1931 | Kurdish leader Ahmad Barzani rebels against the Iraqi government. |
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| 1961 | Mustafa Barzani, the son of Ahmad Barzani, launches a new round of armed
resistance against Iraqi rule that continues for 14 years, mostly with Iranian
support. |
|
| 1963 | American diplomats encourage Kurdish leaders to support the new Ba'ath
government in Baghdad, following a U.S.-supported coup. (See interviews with
Jalal Talabani and James Akins) The Ba'ath Party leadership
issues a statement saying it "recognized the rights of the Kurdish people." |
|
| 1970 | The main Kurdish group in Iraq, the Kurdish Democratic Party, negotiates a
power-sharing agreement with Vice President Saddam Hussein, believing he is a
man they can do business with. Afterwards, four Kurdish leaders become Cabinet
Ministers in the Iraqi government. |
|
| 1971 | Iraqi agents try to assassinate Kurdish leader Mustafa Barzani, head of
the Kurdish Democratic Party. They hide explosives on a visiting cleric and
blow the cleric up via remote control when he sits next to Barzani. (See
interview with Mahkmoud Othman who was in the room when the cleric
exploded. Also read interview with Abdul-Rahman who talks about
repercussions after this assassination attempt, when the Kurds realized they
could no longer trust Saddam.) |
|
| 1972 | Saddam Hussein visits Moscow and signs a "Friendship and Cooperation"
treaty with the USSR the following year. |
|
| 1973 | Richard Nixon makes a secret agreement with Shah of Iran to begin covert
action against Saddam's government. The U.S. and Iran then begin funding the Kurds
in their battle against the Iraqi regime for an autonomous Kurdistan. (See
interview with James Akins.) |
|
| 1973-1975 | Working with Iran and Israel, the U.S. funds the Kurdish peshmerga
(guerrilla army - rough translation: "those who do not fear death") and
encourages them to fight Saddam's government. CIA and Israeli agents operate
in Kurdistan. (See interviews with Akins, Othman,
Talabani, and Abdul-Rahman)
Kurdish officials visit Washington to meet secretly with CIA officials (Read
interview with Othman, who made the visit. Also, Talabani
discussing general relations with the U.S. at the time) |
|
| 1975 | Saddam Hussein makes surprise peace deal with the Shah of Iran at a
meeting in Algiers. Within days, all U.S. support for the Kurds is stopped and
Saddam begins to counterattack their forces. (See interviews with
Akins, Abdul-Rahman, Talabani. ) |
|
| 1975 March | Jalal Talabani, leader of the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP),
breaks away from the KDP following the collapse of U.S. support for the Kurds.
Talabani forms the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), and ever since, Iraq's
Kurdish opposition has been riven with factionalism. |
|
| 1975-1990 | U.S. forbids American officials from having any open contact with
Iraqi Kurdish groups. (See interview with Othman on being shunned by
State Department.)
At the same time, Iraq's government persecutes the Kurds. In 1988 Saddam Hussein uses chemical weapons
against the Kurdish village of Halabja; thousands of men, women and
children are killed. |
|
| 1979 | Legendary Kurdish leader Mustafa Barzani dies in Washington D.C.
On his deathbed, he laments once having trusted the U.S. (See interview with
Akins who knew Barzani well and was with him in his final days.) |
|
| 1990 | After Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, US officials begin to meet with Iraqi
opposition figures for the first time in 15 years. |
|
| 1991 March | After Iraq's defeat in Kuwait, Shias in Southern Iraq launch a
popular uprising against the Baghdad regime. Following the Shias' lead, the
Kurds in the North also revolt. Within two weeks, 15 of Iraq's 18 provinces
are free of government control. However, once it is clear that the U.S. will not
support the rebellion, Saddam's forces crush the revolt throughout Iraq.
Hundreds of thousands of Kurds flee into the mountains. In response to
humanitarian pleas, U.S. troops move into Northern Iraq in "Operation Provide
Comfort". No-fly zones are established over Kurdistan. |
|
| April 1991 | Kurdish leaders meet Saddam in Baghdad to negotiate a settlement
after the uprisings. (See interview with Abdul-Rahman on meeting
Saddam again; he hadn't seen him since 1971.) |
|
| 1992-5 | The Iraqi National Congress (INC), the U.S.-funded opposition to
Saddam's government, uses Kurdistan as a base. Kurdish groups contribute
forces to a CIA-backed rebel army. (See Talabani, Abdul Rahman
on Kurdish role. Chalabi on the INC and relations with the Kurds and
the U.S.) |
|
| May 1994 | Open fighting breaks out between the two major Kurdish factions,
the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union for Kurdistan
(PUK). |
|
| March 1995 | The KDP, the largest Kurdish group under Mousoud Barzani (the son
of the legendary Kurdish leader Mustafa Barzani), breaks with the INC after the
U.S. government fails to back a planned attack on Saddam's forces. (See
Abdul Rahman on decision to break with the U.S., and Talabani, whose KDP faction stayed loyal to U.S.). |
|
| August 1996 | KDP troops join the Iraqi Army in an attack on the INC forces
based in Irbil, the largest city in Kurdistan. U.S.- backed rebels request
American air support but request is denied. Iraqi troops arrest and execute
hundreds of rebel leaders. (See Abdul Rahman on KDP decision to back
Saddam. Talabani on lack of U.S. response to attack, which he considers
another American betrayal. Also Chalabi on Kurdish infighting.) |
|
| 1996-99 | Kurdish groups strike autonomy deal with Saddam's government and remain
skeptical of the extent to which the U.S. is serious about its support for the
Iraqi opposition. (See abdul Rahman on KDP's arrangement with Saddam.) |
|
| 1999 | U.S. government explicitly states that an Iraqi attack on the Kurds would
lead to a heavy U.S. response. State Department tries to resolve disputes
between the two main Kurdish factions, the KDP and PUK, but sharp divisions
remain. |
|
| Summer 1999 | U.S. government refuses to give Kurdish leaders
security guarantees that would enable them to hold a general meeting of the
Iraqi opposition inside Kurdistan. Instead, the meeting is held in New York
City in October, 1999. |
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