Kurdistan Democratic Party

Kurdistan Democratic Party
پارتی دیموکراتی کوردستان
Partiya Demokrat a Kurdistanê
PresidentMasoud Barzani
FounderMustafa Barzani
Founded16 August 1946 (1946-08-16)
HeadquartersMasif Selahaddin, Erbil Governorate,Kurdistan Region, Iraq
IdeologyKurdish nationalism[1]
National conservatism
Economic liberalism[1]
Authoritarianism[1]
Barzanism[1]
Secularism[1]
Populism[1]
Atlanticism[1]
Republicanism[2]

[1]
Political positionBig tent[3]
Colours  Yellow
Council of Representatives of Iraq[a]
31 / 329
Kurdistan Region Parliament[4]
39 / 100
Party flag
Website
kdp.info
  • Politics of Iraq
  • Political parties
  • Elections
Armed Wing
(Zeravani)
LeaderMasoud Barzani
Dates of operation1946 (1946)–Present
HeadquartersErbil, Kurdistan Region
Active regionsIraq
Kurdistan
Size250,000 (active personnel)
250,000 (reserved personnel)
AlliesState allies:
Battles and wars
  • Before 2003:
  • After 2003:
    • 2003 invasion of Iraq
    • Operation Viking Hammer
    • First Iraq War
    • Iraqi insurgency (2003–2011)
    • Iraqi civil war (2006–2008)
    • Iraqi insurgency (2011–2013)
    • War in Iraq (2013–2017)
    • US intervention in the Syrian civil war
    • 2017 Iraqi–Kurdish conflict
    • Islamic State insurgency in Iraq (2017–present)
    • Kurdistan Region–PKK conflict

The Kurdistan Democratic Party (Kurdish: پارتی دیموکراتی کوردستان, romanized: Partiya Demokrat a Kurdistanê), usually abbreviated as KDP or PDK, is the ruling party in Iraqi Kurdistan and the senior partner in the Kurdistan Regional Government. It was founded in 1946 in Mahabad in Iranian Kurdistan. The party states that it combines "democratic values and social justice to form a system whereby everyone in Kurdistan can live on an equal basis with great emphasis given to rights of individuals and freedom of expression."

The KDP is dominated by the Barzani tribe and the party's stated ideologies are lawfulness, secularism, and Kurdish nationalism. It wants to build a "social-oriented" economy, and lists civil solidarity and social justice as the basis of its ideology.[3][5]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "What Changes Will the Kurdistan Democratic Party Congress Bring?".
  2. ^ "Kurdish Democratic Party KDP". The Kurdish Project. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  3. ^ a b Gürbey, Hofmann & Seyder 2017, p. 65.
  4. ^ "Election commission publishes official KRG election results". Rudaw.
  5. ^ "Two leading Iraqi Kurdish parties are taken off US terrorism list". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 14 May 2020.


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