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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Former Iraqi president and leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) Jalal Talabani passed away on this day in 2017. The first anniversary of his death comes as Barham Salih, widely seen as a pupil of the late PUK founder, was inaugurated president.
Talabani, known affectionately as Mam (uncle) Jalal, was born on November 12, 1933 in the village of Kalkan near Mount Kosrat. He graduated with a law degree from Baghdad University in 1959.
Political from an early age, he joined the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in 1947 at age 14. Throughout his life he has been a journalist, Peshmerga, and politician. The PUK has called him “a unifying elder statesman who could soothe tempers among Iraq’s Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds.”
Talabani played a major role in Kurdistan’s September 1961 uprising, the Aylul Revolution, serving on the Kirkuk and Sulaimani fronts.
In 1975, he left the KDP and established the PUK under the motto: peace, democracy, human rights, and self-determination.
As head of the PUK, he continued to play a leading role in the Kurdish struggle, attempting negotiations with Saddam Hussein and establishing the Kurdistan Front with Idris Barzani.
After the collapse of the Baathist regime in 2003, Talabani became a member of the Iraqi Governing Council and was instrumental in drafting the Iraqi constitution.
In April 2005, he was elected president of Iraq by the transitional national assembly, becoming the first non-Arab president of Iraq. He won a second term as president the following year and again in 2010. By agreement of all parties in Baghdad, the position of president of Iraq is allocated to a Kurd.
He suffered a stroke on December 17, 2012 in Baghdad and spent a year and a half in Germany receiving medical treatment. He returned to Sulaimani on July 19, 2014.
While remaining nominal head of the PUK, he largely withdrew from public life.
He died in a Berlin hospital on October 3, 2017, aged 83.
Fuad Masum was elected president of Iraq on July 24, 2014, succeeding Talabani. Masum left office on October 2, 2018, making way for Barham Salih – Iraq’s new president.
Talabani was married to Hero Ibrahim Ahmed. The couple had two sons: Qubad and Bafel. Qubad Talabani is deputy prime minister of the Kurdistan Region.
Talabani, known affectionately as Mam (uncle) Jalal, was born on November 12, 1933 in the village of Kalkan near Mount Kosrat. He graduated with a law degree from Baghdad University in 1959.
Political from an early age, he joined the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in 1947 at age 14. Throughout his life he has been a journalist, Peshmerga, and politician. The PUK has called him “a unifying elder statesman who could soothe tempers among Iraq’s Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds.”
Talabani played a major role in Kurdistan’s September 1961 uprising, the Aylul Revolution, serving on the Kirkuk and Sulaimani fronts.
In 1975, he left the KDP and established the PUK under the motto: peace, democracy, human rights, and self-determination.
As head of the PUK, he continued to play a leading role in the Kurdish struggle, attempting negotiations with Saddam Hussein and establishing the Kurdistan Front with Idris Barzani.
After the collapse of the Baathist regime in 2003, Talabani became a member of the Iraqi Governing Council and was instrumental in drafting the Iraqi constitution.
In April 2005, he was elected president of Iraq by the transitional national assembly, becoming the first non-Arab president of Iraq. He won a second term as president the following year and again in 2010. By agreement of all parties in Baghdad, the position of president of Iraq is allocated to a Kurd.
He suffered a stroke on December 17, 2012 in Baghdad and spent a year and a half in Germany receiving medical treatment. He returned to Sulaimani on July 19, 2014.
While remaining nominal head of the PUK, he largely withdrew from public life.
He died in a Berlin hospital on October 3, 2017, aged 83.
Fuad Masum was elected president of Iraq on July 24, 2014, succeeding Talabani. Masum left office on October 2, 2018, making way for Barham Salih – Iraq’s new president.
Talabani was married to Hero Ibrahim Ahmed. The couple had two sons: Qubad and Bafel. Qubad Talabani is deputy prime minister of the Kurdistan Region.
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