Masoud Barzani | |
|---|---|
مەسعوود بارزانی | |
.jpg) Barzani in 2016 | |
| President of Kurdistan Region | |
| In office 14 June 2005 – 1 November 2017[1] (Mandate expired on 19 August 2015) | |
| Prime Minister | Nechirvan Barzani Barham Salih Nechirvan Barzani |
| Vice President | Kosrat Rasul Ali |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Nechirvan Barzani |
| President of the Governing Council of Iraq | |
| In office 1 April 2004 – 30 April 2004 | |
| Leader | Paul Bremer |
| Preceded by | Mohammad Bahr al-Ulloum |
| Succeeded by | Ezzedine Salim |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1946-08-16)16 August 1946 (age 79) |
| Citizenship | Iraq,Turkey (1992–2003)[2] |
| Party | Kurdistan Democratic Party |
| Website | www |
Masoud Barzani (Kurdish:مەسعوود بارزانی,romanized: Mesûd Barzanî;[3][4] born 16 August 1946) is aKurdish politician who has been leader of theKurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) since 1979, and was President of theKurdistan Region ofIraq from 2005 to 2017.
Barzani was born inMahabad,Iran, during the short-livedRepublic of Mahabad, and succeeded his fatherMustafa Barzani as leader of the KDP in 1979.[5] In the same year, he avoided an attempted assassination inVienna.[6]
Working closely with his brotherIdris Barzani until Idris's death, Barzani and various other Kurdish groups fought withIran against theIraqi military during theIran–Iraq War.[5] Barzani has played a key role in the development of the Kurdistan Regionpolity since theGulf War.[7]
A major result ofSaddam Hussein's defeat in theGulf War (1991) andOperation Provide Comfort was the ultimate establishment of Kurdish control over northern Iraq in 1992, he was given aTurkish passport by the then-presidentTurgut Özal in order to help Barzani travel freely.[2] Just a few months after the creation of the autonomous zone,free elections (a first in Iraq) were held in 1992. The two main Kurdish parties, namely Barzani's KDP and theJalal Talabani-ledPatriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), split the vote, and subsequently split the government ministries evenly. In May 1994, however,fighting broke out between thePeshmerga of the PUK and of the KDP. On 31 August 1996 Barzani called on the assistance ofSaddam Hussein's regime to help him combat the PUK, which was receiving Iranian assistance. With the aid of the Iraqi army, the KDP drove the PUK from Iraqi Kurdistan's major cities. The PUK eventually regrouped and retookSuleimani and parts ofHawler province. An end to the civil war was brokered in 1998 in the Washington Peace Accords, leaving the Kurdish zone divided between the KDP in the Northwest and PUK in the Southeast.[8] After theinvasion of Iraq in 2003, the KDP and PUK gradually established a unified regional government. Barzani became a member of theIraqi Governing Council and was the president of the council in April 2004. He was elected as the President of Iraqi Kurdistan by theParliament of Iraqi Kurdistan in June 2005.[9][10][11]
As President of theKurdistan Region, Barzani has made official visits to several countries and met dignitaries of the likes of US PresidentGeorge W. Bush, UK Prime MinisterTony Blair, thePope atthe Vatican, the ItalianPrime MinisterSilvio Berlusconi inRome andKingAbdullah ofSaudi Arabia inRiyadh.[12]
In July 2009, in thefirst direct elections for the presidency of the autonomous Kurdistan Region, Masoud Barzani was reelected as president by a popular ballot, receiving 69.6% of the votes. The elections were closely monitored by international observers and the Iraqi Electoral Commission. In August 2013, after the expiration of his 8-year term, theparliament extended his presidency for another two years, and he continued in the role even beyond this extension.[13][14]
Masoud Barzani was one of the eight candidates shortlisted in theTime magazine's 2014Person of the Year, for his efforts to push forKurdish independence with the ongoing fight against theIslamic State of Iraq and Syria.[15]
.jpg)
On 7 June 2017, Barzani had announced thatKurdistan Region would hold anindependence referendum on 25 September 2017.[16] On the day following thereferendum, 26 September 2017, he announced that the referendum had been a success in seeking independence, and called on neighboring countries to be open to future dialogue.[17]
The Iraqi government rejected the results of the referendum. On 15 October, units of the Iraqi security forces andPopular Mobilization Forces,entered the Kurdish-held city ofKirkuk, forcing a withdrawal of the Peshmerga and prompting similar withdrawals across other contested cities in northern Iraq.[18]
Following the failure of the referendum and the Peshmerga'sterritorial losses, Barzani announced on 29 October that he would step down as the President of Kurdistan Region.[19]
He is still the president of the KDP and receives ambassadors.[20][21]
Members of the Barzani family allegedly control a large number of commercial enterprises in Iraqi Kurdistan, with a gross value of several billion dollars, although no evidence of such ownership by Masoud Barzani himself exists. While accusations of corruption against both the KDP-Barzanis and the PUK-Talabanis are often levied by both Kurdish sources and international observers such asMichael Rubin, President Barzani on several occasions has denied involvement in any commercial enterprises.[22]
Insufficient financial transparency in the region serves to both exacerbate the accusations and hamper efforts to find any evidence of malfeasance. In July 2010 the opposition paperRozhnama accused the Barzani-led KDP of pocketing large sums from illegal oil-smuggling.[23]
In December 2005,Kamal Qadir, a Kurdish legal scholar with Austrian citizenship, was arrested in Iraqi Kurdistan for a series of articles criticizing Barzani's government and family. He was charged with defamation and sentenced to thirty years' imprisonment.[24] He was released in 2006 following international pressure fromAmnesty International,Reporters Without Borders, and the government of Austria.[25] In May 2010 the journalistSardasht Osman was killed after criticising the Barzani family.[26]
Barzani's detractors say he is tribal, conservative, and unworldly, often playing traditional tribal roles. However, his administration inErbil successfully built modern transportation infrastructures, attracted foreign business investment, and prioritized education.[27]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | President of the Governing Council of Iraq 2004 | Succeeded by |
| New office | President of Kurdistan Region 2005–2017 | Succeeded by Vacant |
| Mandatory Iraq (1920–1932) |
| |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kingdom of Iraq (1932–1958) |
| |||
| First Republic of Iraq (1958–1968) |
| |||
| Ba'athist Iraq (1968–2003) |
| |||
| Iraqi Governing Council (2003–2004) |
| |||
| Republic of Iraq (since 2004) |
| |||
| ||||
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
