By Arian Mufid: Talabani had a heart attack in Baghdad in December 2012 and subsequently passed away on 3rd October 2017. Since then the PUK, having lost its captain, has been like a ship without direction. The passing of the PUK leader has left behind a dangerous vacuum of leadership. Mr Jalal Talabani’s departure was…
.jpg)
Category Archives: Talabani
Time is Right to Bring the Two Kurdish Leaders, Talabani and Barzani, to the Court of Justice
By Rauf Naqishbendi: Republished: originally published in 2011. The two Iraqi Kurdish leaders, Barzani and Talabani, have sold out Kurdistan to the Kurds’ enemies. Nowhere is this treason more conspicuous than in Kirkuk, Mosul and Khanaqeen. The American invasion of Iraq, which presented itself as a golden opportunity, is gone with the wind thanks to…
Qubad Talabani Faces Arrest In Germany But Tells KT ‘I Did Not Make Threats’
KT News: A warrant has been issued by the Hamburg Public Prosecutor in Germany for the arrest of Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) deputy prime minister Qubad Talabani, who is accused of threatening to “break every bone” of a Kurdish-German businessman, according to reports in NDR and ‘Süddeutsche Zeitung’. Talabani today spoke to KT to deny…
The Crisis of Leadership: Qubad Talabani as an Example
By Kamal Chomani: In a recent interview televised by NRT, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani listed four items as main issues facing his government: Being at war with Daesh (IS), Financial Crisis, Internally Displaced People (IDP), and disunity among political parties. What he failed to acknowledge is, of course, the…
Wedged Between Obama’s Poor Plan and Their Own Corrupt Leaders
By Rauf Naqishbendi: The Islamic caliphate has been tenaciously holding on to what they gained since their expansion mission last June. Regardless of ominous threats and hollow words from the Obama administration, it seems that caliphate is here to stay and will further expand the domain of its control. To fight the caliphate, President Obama…
Has the Talabani family marginalised the PUK for a generation?
By Mufid Abdulla: It is almost one year and four months since Jalal Talabani vanished from the political scene due to a serious stroke. Since then fears have grown and hope has been diminished within his Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) over how the party leadership can fill the vacuum inside the organisation. At the last…
Where is the President?
By Dr. Sherzad Al-Khalifa: It is more than nine months since Jalal Talabani was moved to hospital treatment after suffering a stroke and, in that time, practically no credible report has been published about his health situation. The extraordinary thing is that his position as President of Iraq has been left vacant for all that period…
Hospital bed photos of Talabani won’t heal PUK divisions
By Mufid Abdulla: Six months after Jalal Talabani’s collapse in Baghdad with a stroke, the PUK (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) TV channel has shown photos of him in a German hospital bed (without any independent verification).There are rumours that he might be making a speech on TV but I don’t think that’s likely at this…
PUK seeks to forge post-Talabani ties with neighbours
KT News and Comment: The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) politburo has set up three committees to deal with the party’s diplomatic ties with Turkey, Iran and Baghdad. Politburo member Ala Talabani told Hawlati that the committees have commenced their work although the PUK founder and Iraq president Jalal Talabani remains absent through his illness…
Future of the PUK hanging in the balance in Talabani’s absence
By Shwan Zulal: Mutterings about what next and who will lead the PUK (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) continue but now the main two contenders are emerging – with two different styles of leadership, representing different strands of thought within the party. After his recent ill-health and suffering from a stroke, Iraqi President and PUK leader,…
Post Talabani
By Kamal Chomani: President Jalal Talabani’s uncertain health is suggestive of some crucial changes ahead in the political landscape of both Iraq and the Kurdistan Region. ‘Post Talabani’ is a very sensitive issue within the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). It affects the PUK’s policies and its relations towards other Kurdish political forces – in particular,…
