Biography

Murad Mikail Haji was born in 1920 in the village of Bzhian, part of the Shirwan Mazn sub-district of the Mergasor district in Erbil province. He was married and had two sons; he knew the Kurdish and Russian languages. He passed away in 1961 in the village of Bzhian in the Mizuri region and was buried in the village cemetery.

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. He participated in the battles against the Iranian army's attacks on the Republic.

On May 22, 1947, he accompanied General Mustafa Barzani towards the Soviet Union and participated in the Battle of Gali Kotol (Qotur) and the Battle of 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 reaching the Soviet Union, on June 19, 1947, along with all his companions, 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, 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 Azerbaijani Republic officers, were given eight hours of military training daily. At the same time, for four hours a day, they were taught lessons in learning the Kurdish language by some of their companions who were literate.

After the bad treatment of the Barzani companions by Jafar Bagirov, 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 companions, they were distributed in groups and squads by train among the collective villages of the Soviet Union and worked in the Kolkhoz fields (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 described the hardships of his companions. He immediately decided to form a committee to investigate the situation of the Barzani companions, and finally, the committee's decision was that they should all be gathered in the city of Vrevsky. Therefore, Murad Mikail Haji 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. Murad Mikail Haji returned to Kurdistan on April 16, 1959, along with his companions, on the ship Grozia via the port of Basra in the south of the Republic of Iraq.

Sources:

1- Hamid Gawhari, The Barzani Medal is the highest honor, Volume One, (Erbil - Haji Hashim Printing House - 2015).

2- Hamid Gardi, Summary of History, First Edition, (Erbil - Aras Publishing and Distribution 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 Mela Habib Abubakr, The Barzan Tribe between 1931 - 1991, First Edition, (Erbil - Ministry of Culture Printing House - 2001).

6- Abdullah Ghafur, 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- In the memoirs of the martyr commander Haso 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 Quli Pesyan, From Bloody Mahabad to the Shores of Aras, trans. Shawkat Sheikh Yazdin, First Edition, (Pirman - Golden Jubilee of the Kurdistan Democratic Party - 1996).

12- Archive of the Kurdistan Democratic Party Encyclopedia Board.