On the occasion of the 47th anniversary of the passing of the legendary leader Mustafa Barzani.

Truly great people and genuine leaders do not vanish into the silence of death; their lives, struggles, convictions, and achievements endure, becoming part of a living history—epic narratives whose names outlast mortality.

By the testimony of his own nation—and even in the eyes of both friends and foes—Mustafa Barzani stands among these enduring figures. Through a lifelong struggle for the protection and dignity of his people, he became a luminous symbol of the Kurdish nation’s pursuit of freedom and an emblem of humanity’s broader quest for liberty.

Barzani was a model leader whose absence leaves a palpable gap in any attempt to understand the history of his people or the history of this region.

Born at the dawn of the twentieth century, he was confronted with hardship and imprisonment from his earliest years. As the Russian professor Medvedka observed: “Barzani is a son of the century—the twentieth century—for he was born with it and gave his entire life to it. He is a man beyond image, a personality who devoted all his existence to his century.”

A Hero of a Century

Mustafa Barzani ranks among the most prominent and celebrated leaders of the Kurds and of Kurdistan. Through a distinguished and exemplary struggle for freedom and self-determination that spanned more than half a century, he inscribed a transformative and decisive role in modern history. As historical eras evolve, the stages, outcomes, and trajectories of that struggle are continually revisited and reinterpreted, casting new light on present realities and emerging phases. This enduring relevance reflects the lasting significance of Barzani’s mode and method of struggle as a historical leader.

More than half a century after the beginning of his struggle, the name, thought, and national and patriotic aspirations of Barzani remain a dynamic and influential force in the social, political, and national life of Kurdistan. They have become indispensable for affirming and consolidating Kurdish national identity and for pursuing realistic solutions to the chronic and structural challenges facing this nation.

The intellectual and political legacy of Mustafa Barzani constitutes a powerful force on the political stage of Kurdistan, the wider region, and, by extension, the world. He worked tirelessly to present and defend the cause and rights of his people, confronting all forms of pressure, retaliation, and conflict imposed by tyrants and states hostile to the Kurds, whose policies were driven by narrow, self-serving interests. Although these realities placed heavy burdens on the Kurdish cause and created serious obstacles to its advancement throughout the past century, the awareness and resolute struggle of Barzani prevented occupying powers, enemies, and adversaries from fully realizing their unjust designs at the expense of the Kurds and their cause.

It was precisely this struggle, steadfastness, and spirit of resistance and defiance—sustained throughout the twentieth century—that enabled the Kurdish people to endure profound hardship and deprivation and, with unwavering resolve and sacrifice, to move toward uprisings and historic achievements. The fruits of that path today constitute the very framework of the Kurdistan Region.

Barzani – The Path

This great leader did not only leave behind a pure and powerful model of leadership and a sound culture of service to the people and soil of Kurdistan. Barzani also became the mirror of his people’s existence and endurance, and the great symbol through which history has identified and illuminated the horizon of a proud nation’s dignity. His legacy has been received in precisely this way.

Not only in the stages of national liberation, but also after the attainment of his people’s self-rule, his thought, faith, determination, and aims have continued to function as a school for educating minds, shaping attitudes, and properly orienting responsibilities, offering effective guidance to future generations. By returning to his ideas, convictions, methods of struggle, and practical conduct, new generations find the most vital lessons and transformations, and from there can embark on a sound path toward a healthy life, a safeguarded political and national order, and the continuous flourishing of society. As Martin van Bruinessen has noted, future generations should take Barzani as a mirror by which to shape tomorrow.

Mustafa Barzani breathed life into the life of a nation; he gave existence meaning and continuity, set the caravan of success in motion, and pointed towards the horizon of its destiny. For this reason, Barzani has not died and does not die. He did not simply depart into death, nor was his birth confined to a limited span of years. Barzani is a perpetual presence and an unending history. Until the moment of his remarkable passing, he was a leader and a guide; now he is a path.

His thought, faith, legacy, and aims are the mountain peaks of freedom and dignified self-determination, the court in which duty and rights are weighed, and the scales by which life is distributed in equality. Just as in the past his name, his struggle, his leadership, his being, his steadfastness, and the aspirations of our nation were joined together, so too today, through the great history of his struggle, our people recognize themselves and, along this true path, continue the caravan toward the heights of success.

O leader and guide, in the revival of your path lies the nation’s resilience and the guarantee of its progress. You and the Kurds, you and Kurdistan, are inseparable: without one, the other is but an indistinguishable name and an unknown history. Your history is breadth, and your path is foundation.

This article is a translation from Kurdish, originally published by KDP.info