Abdul Aziz Yamulki: The Kurdish General Behind the Plot Against Bakr Sidqi
- Mero Ranyayi
- May 25
- 6 min read
Who Was Abdul Aziz Yamulki?
Abdul Aziz Yamulki (1890–1981) was a Kurdish general in the Iraqi army and a member of one of Sulaymaniyah's most prominent families. The son of the soldier and statesman Mustafa Yamulki, he is best known as the chief organiser of the 1937 plot to overthrow and assassinate Bakr Sidqi, the Kurdish-origin general who had seized power in Iraq's first modern military coup.
Key Takeaways
• He belonged to the influential Yamulki family of Sulaymaniyah and trained at the Ottoman Military Academy.
• He was the son of Mustafa Yamulki (“Nemrud Mustafa Pasha”), a minister in the short-lived Kingdom of Kurdistan.
• He rose to general in the Iraqi army as the officer commanding Mechanical Transport.
• He was the chief plotter of the 1937 conspiracy that led to the assassination of Bakr Sidqi.
• After the coup he was eased away from power and posted abroad as an Iraqi diplomat in Kabul and Karachi.
Quick Facts
Full Name: Abdul Aziz Yamulki
Also Known As: Aziz Yamulki
Born: 21 December 1890, Sulaymaniyah, Ottoman Empire
Died: 25 July 1981 (aged 90), Sulaymaniyah, Iraq
Background: Kurdish (Yamulki family of Sulaymaniyah)
Occupation / Role: Army general and diplomat
Era: Late Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Iraq
Known For: Leading the 1937 plot against Bakr Sidqi
Allegiance: Ottoman Empire, Kingdom of Kurdistan, Iraq
Highest Rank: General
Historical Importance: A key figure in the military conspiracy that ended Iraq's first coup regime
Table of Contents
Early Life and a Prominent Family
Abdul Aziz Yamulki was born on 21 December 1890 in Sulaymaniyah, then part of the Mosul province of the Ottoman Empire and one of the great centres of Kurdish culture and learning. His father was Mustafa Yamulki, known as “Nemrud Mustafa Pasha”, an Ottoman officer who served as chairman of an Ottoman military court and later as minister of education in the short-lived Kingdom of Kurdistan.
Through his family Aziz was connected to a remarkable network of Kurdish notables: he was a nephew of Said Pasha Kurd and Kurd Ahmet Izzet Pasha, and a cousin of the diplomat Şerif Pasha and the officer Kurd Fuad Pasha. As a young man he moved to Constantinople, lived in his uncle's palace, and trained at the Ottoman Military Academy.
Historical Context
Yamulki's life was shaped by the collapse of the Ottoman order and the carving-up of its territory after the First World War. When the Kemalist movement took power in Anatolia, his father — who had served on the Ottoman courts-martial — fled to Kurdistan, and the family's palace in Constantinople was confiscated.
The Kurdish-majority Mosul province was attached to the new British-mandated state of Iraq rather than to Turkey or to any Kurdish state, despite the brief existence of a Kingdom of Kurdistan under Sheikh Mahmud Barzanji. For educated young Kurds of military background like Aziz, the new Iraqi army offered one of the few avenues to a career — and, for some, a base from which to pursue political ambitions.
Career in the Iraqi Army
Given his family standing and his Ottoman military training, Yamulki joined the army of the new Iraqi state and rose to the rank of general, serving as the officer commanding Mechanical Transport — a significant post in a modernising army.
Iraq in the 1930s was a turbulent place: a young monarchy, a restive officer corps, and a series of coups and conspiracies that made the army the real arbiter of power. Yamulki was one of a number of officers of Kurdish background who held senior positions in this army.
The Plot Against Bakr Sidqi
In 1936, General Bakr Sidqi — himself of Kurdish origin — carried out what is often described as the first modern military coup in the Arab world, seizing effective control of the Iraqi government. His rule was short and bitterly resented within the officer corps.
Abdul Aziz Yamulki became the chief organiser of a conspiracy, formed with seven other officers of mainly Kurdish background, to bring Sidqi down. The group included figures who would later become famous in Iraqi history, among them Salah ad-Din al-Sabbagh, Kamil Shabib, and Mahmud Salman.
According to the historical accounts of the episode, Yamulki drew up four separate plans to assassinate Sidqi — at a rest house in Mosul, at his brother's house, by an attack on his car, and finally at the Military Club, where Yamulki served as president. The plan was for Yamulki to give a secret signal and for the killing to take place when the lights were put out. Bakr Sidqi was assassinated in Mosul in August 1937, ending his coup regime. In the aftermath Yamulki was eased away from the centre of power: he was sent abroad as Iraq's Chargé d'Affaires in Kabul, and was later appointed Iraqi Consul at Karachi in 1943.
Timeline and Key Events
1890 — Born on 21 December in Sulaymaniyah
1900s — Moves to Constantinople and trains at the Ottoman Military Academy
c. 1920s — Flees with his father as the Kemalists take power; later joins the Iraqi army
1936 — Bakr Sidqi seizes power in Iraq's first modern military coup
1937 — Yamulki leads the plot that culminates in Bakr Sidqi's assassination in Mosul
c. 1937–1938 — Posted abroad as Iraq's Chargé d'Affaires in Kabul
1943 — Appointed Iraqi Consul at Karachi
1981 — Dies on 25 July in Sulaymaniyah, aged 90
Debates and Misconceptions
Two Kurds on opposite sides. One of the striking features of the 1937 conspiracy is that both its target, Bakr Sidqi, and its organiser, Abdul Aziz Yamulki, were of Kurdish origin. The episode is therefore better understood as a struggle within the Iraqi officer corps over power and policy than as a Kurdish national act.
A link to the “Golden Square”. Several of Yamulki's fellow plotters — notably Salah ad-Din al-Sabbagh — went on to form the nationalist officers' clique later known as the “Golden Square”, which dominated Iraqi politics until the 1941 war with Britain. Yamulki's exact relationship to this later group is not always clearly drawn in the sources.
Sources and detail. Much of the detailed account of the assassination plot comes from a small number of historical works on Iraqi politics, and some specifics should be treated with caution.
Legacy
Abdul Aziz Yamulki is remembered chiefly for a single dramatic act: organising the conspiracy that toppled Iraq's first military strongman. His career illustrates the prominent — and often divided — role that Kurds of the old Ottoman officer class played in the early Iraqi state, holding senior commands while pursuing rival political agendas.
Unlike his father Mustafa Yamulki, who is remembered as a patriot of the Kurdish cause, Aziz is remembered through the lens of Iraqi national politics. He lived a long life, returning at the end to the family's home city of Sulaymaniyah, where he died in 1981 at the age of ninety.
Related People, Places, and Topics
Mustafa Yamulki — his father, an officer and minister in the Kingdom of Kurdistan
Bakr Sidqi — the Kurdish-origin general whose assassination Yamulki organised
Şerif Pasha — his cousin, the Kurdish diplomat at the Paris Peace Conference
Kurd Fuad Pasha — his cousin, a Kurdish Ottoman officer
Muhammad Amin Zaki — a fellow Kurdish officer-scholar of Sulaymaniyah in the Iraqi state
Related topics: the Kingdom of Kurdistan; Sulaymaniyah; the Golden Square; the Ottoman Military Academy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Abdul Aziz Yamulki?
Abdul Aziz Yamulki (1890–1981) was a Kurdish general in the Iraqi army, son of Mustafa Yamulki, best known as the chief plotter of the 1937 conspiracy that led to the assassination of Bakr Sidqi.
Was Abdul Aziz Yamulki Kurdish?
Yes — he came from the prominent Yamulki family of Sulaymaniyah, one of the historic centres of Kurdish culture, and trained as an Ottoman and then Iraqi officer.
What did Abdul Aziz Yamulki do?
He rose to general in the Iraqi army as commander of Mechanical Transport and organised the 1937 plot that overthrew the coup regime of Bakr Sidqi.
Is he the same as Mustafa Yamulki?
No. Mustafa Yamulki was his father, an Ottoman officer and minister in the Kingdom of Kurdistan. Abdul Aziz was his son, an Iraqi army general.
What happened to him after the plot?
He was moved away from power and posted abroad as an Iraqi diplomat, serving as Chargé d'Affaires in Kabul and later as Consul in Karachi; he died in Sulaymaniyah in 1981.
References
Majid Khadduri, Independent Iraq: A Study in Iraqi Politics since 1932, Oxford University Press, 1960.
Hanna Batatu, The Old Social Classes and the Revolutionary Movements of Iraq, Princeton University Press, 1978.
Wadie Jwaideh, The Kurdish National Movement: Its Origins and Development, Syracuse University Press, 2006.
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