Kurdistan Socialist Democratic Party ( ku, Parti Sosyalisti Demokrati Kurdistan; ar-at, الحزب الاشتراكي الديمقراطي الكردستاني, Hizb al-Ishtiraki al-Dimuqrati al-Kurdistani) is a political party in

Kurdistan Region Kurdistan Region ( ku, هەرێمی کوردستان, translit=Herêmî Kurdistan; ar, إقليم كردستان), abbr. KRI, is an autonomous region in Iraq comprising the four Kurdish-majority governorates of Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Duhok, ...

. The first leader was Saleh Yousefi after 1981. After 1992, the party was led by Mahmoud Othman. The party is currently led by

Mohammed Haji Mahmoud Mohammed Haji Mahmoud is an Iraqi Kurdish politician and leader of the Kurdistan Socialist Democratic Party. He is widely known in Kurdistan as 'Kaka Hama' and gained a reputation for bravery fighting against Saddam Hussein's forces in the 1980s. ...

. It is a

splinter A splinter (also known as a sliver) is a fragment of a larger object, or a foreign body that penetrates or is purposely injected into a body. The foreign body must be lodged inside tissue to be considered a splinter. Splinters may cause initia ...

of the

Kurdistan Democratic Party The Kurdistan Democratic Party ( ku, Partiya Demokrat a Kurdistanê; پارتی دیموکراتی کوردستان), usually abbreviated as KDP or PDK, is the largest party in Iraqi Kurdistan and the senior partner in the Kurdistan Regional Gov ...

. In the

2013 Kurdistan Region parliamentary election The Kurdistan Region parliamentary elections of 2013 took place on 21 September 2013. It was the fourth legislative election in Kurdistan Region since 1992. The candidates were competing for a total of 111 seats out of which 11 seats were reserve ...

the party got 12,501 votes (0.6%) and it won one seat in the

Kurdistan National Assembly The Parliament of Kurdistan ( ku, پەرلەمانی كوردستان ,Perlemanê Kurdistanê or simply Perleman, ar, برلمان كردستان, links=https://www.parliament.krd/arabic/), also called the Kurdish Parliament (IKP), is the par ...

Paramilitary wing

The Kurdistan Socialist Democratic Party also has a paramilitary wing of

Peshmerga The Peshmerga ( ku, پێشمەرگه, Pêşmerge, lit=those who face death) is the Kurdish military forces of the autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq. According to the Constitution of Iraq, the Peshmerga, along with their security subsidiaries, ...

soldiers under the direct command of party leader Mohammed Haji Mahmood, whose ''

nom de guerre A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

'' is "Kaka Hama". The party's forces have fought in the Iraqi Civil War against the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...

(ISIL), mostly in the region south of

Kirkuk Kirkuk ( ar, كركوك, ku, کەرکووک, translit=Kerkûk, , tr, Kerkük) is a city in Iraq, serving as the capital of the Kirkuk Governorate, located north of Baghdad. The city is home to a diverse population of Turkmens, Arabs, Kurds, ...

. They also took part in the

Mosul offensive (2016) Battle of Mosul may refer to: * Battle of Mosul (1107), a battle in which Kilij Arslan I of the Rum Seljuks conquered Mosul * Siege of Mosul (1743), an offensive in which the Persians besieged the Ottomans * Battle of Mosul (1745), a battle betwee ...

. Among the party fighters killed in combat against ISIL was Mohammed Haji Mahmood's son Atta.

References

1976 establishments in Iraq Kurdish nationalism in Iraq Kurdish nationalist political parties Kurdish political parties in Iraq Political parties established in 1976 Political parties in Kurdistan Region Social democratic parties in Iraq {{Iraq-party-stub