March 11 agreement is major achievement of Kurdish liberation movement: KDP Leader Masoud Barzani

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) –President of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Masoud Barzani, issued a statement commemorating the 53rd anniversary of the March 11 Agreement between the Kurdish leadership and the former Iraqi regime. 

“The March 11 agreement is one of the achievements of the Kurdish liberation movement,” President Barzani said. The significance of this historical occassion is that the Kurdish people, under the leadership of Mullah Mustafa Barzani, forced the Iraqi regime to officially recognize the rights of our people for the first time. 

President Barzani reaffirmed that the agreement was the product of the struggle and sacrifices of the Peshmerga, and all communities in the Kurdistan Region. 

He also explained that although the Iraqi regime turned its back on the rights of the Kurdish people and violated the March 11 agreement, this achievement was a gateway to greater successes of our people's struggle. 

Moreover, President Barzani emphasized the peacefulness of the Kurdish people and determination to never concede their rights or freedoms. 

The 1970 agreement came after 11 years of intense conflict between the Kurdish Peshmerga, led by the legendary Mustafa Barzani, and the then-Iraqi regime.

According to the agreement, the Iraqi regime, for the first time, recognized Kurdish political and cultural rights, including granting administrative autonomy, adding Kurdish studies to the education curriculum, and permitting Kurdish officials to participate in the then-Iraqi government.

The Kurdistan Region recognizes March 11 as a national holiday in honor of the historic occasion.