PUK: 49 Years Struggle for Kurdistan — PUKMEDIA statement of principles & founding

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) is a political party founded in the Kurdistan Region on June 1st, 1975. Its principles are democracy, human rights, and the right to self-determination. The PUK is a member of Socialist International.

How did the PUK come into existence?

The PUK was founded as a response to the end of the previous Kurdish revolution. The co-founders, Jalal Talabani (Mam Jalal), Nawshirwan Mustafa, Fouad Masoum, Kamal Fouad, Adil Murad, Omer Sheikhmus, and Abdul-Razaq Faili, met on May 22, 1975, at Talitla Restaurant in Damascus, Syria. They convened to discuss the establishment of a new political organisation. They subsequently announced the founding statement of the PUK on June 1st, 1975.

On December 17, 1975, the founding committee arranged an inclusive meeting at which the members outlined the fundamentals of the PUK's activities inside and outside of the country. […]

The PUK was formed in response to the collapse of the previous Kurdish revolt, known as the Aylul Revolution, after the former Iraqi government withdrew from the peace plan and autonomy agreement signed with the Kurdish people on March 11, 1970. … Furthermore, the establishment of the PUK was also in response to the Iraqi regime's practise of atrocities against the Kurdish people, which began with the forcible resettlement of the Kurdish people, including intellectuals and elites, to the middle and southern areas of Iraq. […]

[…] The Marx-Lenin Association of Kurdistan … Between 1970 and 1975, the association witnessed great progress as many people joined, especially from the Kurdistan Students Union and the Kurdistan Youth Union. … Thus, the Marx-Lenin Association of Kurdistan became a catalyst for the establishment of the PUK. … The Socialist Movement was formed as a result of a series of meetings within the cadres of the Aylul Revolution who took refuge in Iran in 1975. … On November 6, 1976, Omer Dababa, as a representative of the Socialist Movement, went to Damascus to join the founding committee of the PUK.