Adil Murad: Eight Years Since the Passing of a Founding Figure of the PUK

PUKMEDIA

Adil Murad.

Today marks the eighth anniversary of the passing of Adil Murad, one of the founding figures of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and a veteran of the Kurdish national movement whose political and revolutionary legacy continues to resonate across Kurdistan and Iraq.

Adil Murad died on 18 May 2018 in Cologne, Germany, after decades of service to the Kurdish cause as a politician, intellectual, diplomat and Peshmerga figure. Remembered for his steadfast principles and unwavering commitment to Kurdish national rights, he remained an influential voice within the PUK until his final years.

Born in Baghdad in December 1949 to a politically active Kurdish Feyli family, Murad became involved in political activism at an early age. During the 1960s, he joined the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and quickly emerged as an active organiser within Kurdish student circles. While studying chemistry at the University of Baghdad, he played a leading role in overseeing student organisations linked to the Kurdish movement.

His growing political activity brought him into conflict with the Ba’athist regime, eventually forcing him to leave university and join the Peshmerga forces in the mountains of Kurdistan. During this period, he combined political work with education, teaching in revolutionary schools established in liberated areas.

Murad later became one of the leading figures of the Kurdistan Students Union and, following the collapse of the Kurdish revolution after the 1975 Algiers Agreement, joined President Mam Jalal and other Kurdish leaders in Damascus to establish the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).

As one of the party’s founding members, Murad played a significant role in organising the PUK’s political and military structures during its formative years. In 1976, he helped facilitate the deployment of one of the first armed Peshmerga groups under the newly founded movement, formally launching armed resistance against Iraq’s dictatorship.

Throughout the following decades, he held numerous senior party positions, overseeing the PUK’s internal and external organisations and later directing its Central Media Bureau. Known for his extensive political relationships across Iraq and the wider Arab world, Murad also contributed to strengthening ties between Kurdish political forces and regional democratic movements.

Following the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003, Murad participated in efforts to establish Iraq’s post-Ba’ath political system and contributed to discussions surrounding the drafting of the country’s permanent Constitution. He later served as Iraq’s ambassador to Romania from 2004 until 2010.

Despite holding senior leadership positions within the PUK, Murad remained known for his modesty and principled approach to politics. At the PUK’s third congress, he voluntarily stepped aside from the Political Bureau to create opportunities for a younger generation of party leaders, a decision widely praised within the movement.

In 2011, on the recommendation of President Mam Jalal, he became Secretary of the PUK Central Council, a position he held until his death.

Throughout his political life, Adil Murad consistently advocated reform, democratic values and national unity. He openly opposed corruption, authoritarianism and political favouritism, even when doing so placed him at odds with influential figures within his own party.

He also repeatedly emphasised the importance of preserving the Kurdish people’s strategic relationship with Iraq and maintaining the historic ties built over decades between Kurdish, Iraqi and Arab democratic forces.

Eight years after his passing, Adil Murad remains remembered as one of the PUK’s most respected founding figures — a man whose life was shaped by struggle, political conviction and enduring dedication to the Kurdish national cause.


PUKMEDIA