Lahur Talabany to resolve PUK struggle in court, says he will not leave Kurdistan Region

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Lahur Talabany, the co-chair of Sulaimani’s ruling Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) said on Monday that he has decided to take the accusations against him to court after his party was unable to form an investigative committee, adding that he will not leave the Kurdistan Region despite apparent moves to force him abroad.

“After a lot of patience, because of wanting to maintain the security of the beloved city of Sulaimani and the Kurdistan Region in general, in order to solve the problems after the July 8th plot, which I tried to solve through dialogue and the party bylaws, I showed my readiness to temporarily hand over my executive powers to the co-president on the condition that an investigative committee from the party be formed to reveal the truth regarding the accusations against me,” Talabany said in a video posted to Facebook.

“Unfortunately, it seems that my party has not been able to form this committee due to a blockade. After being disappointed in my party's politburo, I decided to seek legal recourse through the Sulaimani judiciary and ask that all the accusations against me be resolved through the courts."

On July 20, Talabany said that he had “temporarily” handed over power to his rival co-chair and cousin Bafel Talabani on the condition of the formation of a committee “to investigate and follow up on all the baseless allegations and propaganda in some media and social media that were being published to mislead” after rumours of a power struggle in the party.

He will also remain in the Kurdistan Region “until my last breath,” he said.

“I want to inform the members, cadres, supporters and the general public that I have now been informed to leave Kurdistan. It seems that they have decided to use government forces to drive me out from my home in Kurdistan. Therefore, I have decided to face this plot head on and will not leave my nation until my last breath.”

The cousins were elected as co-chairs of the PUK in February 2020, following years of wrangling within the party over who would succeed the late Jalal Talabani, who died in 2017.

Last month, Bafel and his brother, Qubad Talabani, changed the heads of the PUK’s intelligence agency and counter-terrorism units, replacing officials who were close to Lahur Talabany with others loyal to Bafel. He also changed his social media bios to “president” of the PUK, and official party media referred to Lahur Talabany as “former co-president.”

Bafel referred to himself as the co-president again in July. He said a shakeup in the PUK was to end abuse of party positions for personal gain, including “smuggling, extortion, threats, and spying.”