Remembering President Mam Jalal: Statesman, Leader and Founding Father of the PUK

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President Mam Jalal.

Nine years ago today, on 3 October 2017, former Iraqi President and national leader Jalal Talabani, widely known as Mam Jalal, passed away in Berlin, Germany, at the age of 83.

President Mam Jalal had travelled to Germany to receive medical treatment and reportedly fell into a coma earlier that day. Despite efforts by medical teams, his condition deteriorated rapidly and he passed away on Tuesday, 3 October.

A historic Kurdish statesman, Mam Jalal served as the sixth President of Iraq from 2005 to 2014, becoming the country’s first non-Arab head of state. He was also a member and later President of the Iraqi Governing Council following the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003. Affectionately known among the Kurdish people as “Mam Jalal”, meaning “Uncle Jalal”, he came to symbolise wisdom, humility and statesmanship.

He was the founder and Secretary-General of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and played a prominent role in the Interim Iraqi Governing Council established after the fall of the Ba’athist regime. From the 1960s onwards, Mam Jalal stood at the forefront of the struggle for Kurdish rights, democracy and federalism in Iraq, while dedicating his political life to promoting coexistence among the country’s diverse communities.

Fluent in Kurdish, Arabic, Persian and English, Mam Jalal was not only a political leader but also an intellectual, writer and prominent advocate of dialogue and reconciliation.

Born in 1933 in Kalkan village, near Koya at the foot of Mount Kosrat overlooking Dukan Lake, President Mam Jalal was the son of Sheikh Husamuddin Sheikh Nuri Sheikh Ghafur. His family later moved to Koya, where his father became custodian of the Talabani Shrine (Takiya).

From an early age, President Mam Jalal demonstrated exceptional intelligence, leadership and oratory skills. He was often selected to deliver readings at school assemblies, and by his teenage years had begun to emerge as a young nationalist voice. At the age of 13, he delivered a speech during the Nawroz celebrations in Koya in 1945, leaving a lasting impression on those who heard him.

In 1946, he founded the Reading Development Association, a student organisation aimed at encouraging intellectual engagement beyond the school curriculum. Following the establishment of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), he became actively involved in Kurdish political life and contributed articles to its clandestine newspaper under the pseudonym “Agir”.

By 1947, he had formally joined the KDP and quickly rose through its ranks. During the 1950s, he played a pioneering role in Kurdish student and youth movements, serving as Secretary-General of the Kurdistan Students Union and helping to establish the Kurdistan Youth Union.

His early political activism led to periods of imprisonment and exile, but he remained committed to his political work, helping organise Kurdish political structures in Kirkuk, Baghdad and Sulaymaniyah.

Mam Jalal also became deeply involved in journalism, writing under pseudonyms for Kurdish and Arabic-language newspapers and later editing several underground publications. Through his work, he helped ensure that the Kurdish voice continued to be heard despite political repression.

When the Kurdish armed struggle resumed in 1961, President Mam Jalal assumed a leadership role within the Peshmerga and established its first military base at Chami Rezan. He later became a commander in Sulaymaniyah and subsequently General Commander of the Kurdistan Peshmerga forces.

His political leadership, military strategy and negotiations with regional and international actors contributed to advancing the Kurdish cause and securing greater recognition of the legitimate rights of the Kurdish people.

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, President Mam Jalal travelled extensively across the Middle East, North Africa and Europe, representing the Kurdish struggle and building relations with governments, intellectuals and liberation movements around the world.

On 6 June 1975, following the collapse of the Kurdish movement in the aftermath of the Algiers Agreement, President Mam Jalal and a group of his comrades co-founded the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in Damascus. The PUK was formally announced in 1976 as a progressive and democratic movement committed to Kurdish rights, federalism and social justice.

President Mam Jalal was elected Secretary-General of the PUK and went on to lead the organisation for decades, guiding it through periods of revolution, war, political negotiations and governance.

His political role extended beyond Kurdistan. President Mam Jalal played a significant part in bringing together Iraqi opposition forces and in shaping the political developments that followed the fall of the Ba’athist regime.

Following the 2003 change of regime, he became a central figure in Iraq’s emerging political order. In November 2003, he chaired the Iraqi Governing Council. In April 2005, he was elected President of Iraq, receiving 227 of 248 votes in Parliament. He was re-elected for a second term in 2010, during which he worked to safeguard Iraq’s unity, encourage political dialogue and help prevent conflict.

In December 2012, President Mam Jalal suffered a stroke and was transferred to Germany for medical treatment. After more than 18 months of recovery, he returned to Kurdistan in July 2014, where he continued to inspire his people until his death in 2017.

President Mam Jalal’s legacy remains deeply rooted in the modern political history of Kurdistan and Iraq. He is remembered as a prominent Kurdish and Iraqi statesman, an advocate of dialogue and peace, and a figure associated with efforts to promote unity and coexistence. His political legacy continues to be reflected in the work of the PUK and in the collective memory of the people of Kurdistan.



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