Remembering Jalal Talabani (Mam Jalal), the First Kurdish President of Iraq

Manish Rai

Written by Manish Rai, Geopolitical Analyst and Columnist for Middle-East.

I had the opportunity to visit the headquarters of the PUK Media Board in Sulaymaniyah during my visit to Iraqi Kurdistan in December last year. Due to my visit, I was able to acquire additional information regarding Jalal Talabani, the founder and leader of the PUK. I was profoundly influenced by his contributions and visionary politics, which prompted my resolve to further investigate the beliefs and endeavors of this esteemed Kurdish leader. I thought to write a concise summary of his extraordinary contributions on his death anniversary. Mam Jalal was a noteworthy Kurdish politician who served as the sixth president of Iraq and presided over the Governing Council of Iraq from 2005 to 2014. He served as the first non-Arab president of Iraq. He is referred to as "Mam Jalal" among the Kurdish people and diaspora, which translates to "Uncle Jalal." On 13 November 1933, he was born in Kalkan village, which is located near Koya town and overlooks Dukan Lake. The village is situated at the base of Kosrat Mountain. After Mullah Mustafa Barzani's self-imposed exile, Talabani, a former prominent figure in the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP), founded the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in 1975 to revitalise the Kurdish resistance. A substantial calamity for the populace of Iraqi Kurdistan was the disintegration of the Kurdish resistance in March 1975. Together with a group of Kurdish intellectuals and activists, Talabani established the PUK (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) after he became convinced that it was imperative to reorient the Kurdish resistance and society. Beginning in 1976, he initiated the organisation of armed opposition within Iraqi Kurdistan. Talabani spearheaded the Kurdish resistance from bases in Iraq during the 1980s until Saddam Hussein's barbaric genocidal "Anfal" campaign of 1987 and 1988. However, the Kurdish conflict was once again abandoned, and Jalal Talabani was compelled to depart from Iraq. The PUK, under Talabani's leadership, developed its own Peshmerga forces, which became a crucial part of the broader Peshmerga structure in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Talabani, affectionately known among Kurds as Mam Jalal, once famously quipped that ‘’all [he] wanted was to be a university teacher. His life was dedicated to the pursuit of Kurdish liberation, and he became the symbol of the Kurdish struggle. He resisted numerous Iraqi federal administrations and was exiled from Iraq numerous times, but he remained resolute in his opposition to the formidable totalitarian power. In the highlands of Sulaymaniyah, he established his stronghold from which he directed the guerrilla campaign against the regime of Abd al-Karim Qasim and, subsequently, Saddam's Baathist administration. However, Talabani was not only a revolutionary guerrilla combatant but also an exceptional leader. More, than 100,000 Kurds lost their lives during Saddam's al-Anfal war, which led to a refugee crisis. Saddam awarded amnesty to the Kurds, but he declared that Talabani would not be forgiven. 

On the contrary, it was Talabani who refused to endorse Saddam's execution in 2006. Also, he was against the imposition of capital punishment on Tariq Aziz, the prime minister of Iraq during Saddam's dictatorship. According to Talabani, he was unable to support capital punishment or execute an ancient and infirm individual because he was a socialist. The Iraqi populace expressed their gratitude for Talabani's efforts in unifying numerous Iraqi factions under the principle of peaceful coexistence following the collapse of the Baathist regime, despite the arduous nature of his tenure as Iraqi president. Even so, the same concerns resurfaced in the wake of his illness. No other individual has been able to unite all Iraqis as effectively as President Mam Jalal has, given that Iraq is composed of Kurds, Arabs (both Sunni and Shia), Turkmens, Yazidis, Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Christians. All Iraqis held Mam Jalal in high regard during his presidency, which concluded in 2014 with the inauguration of Dr. Fuad Masum. They consistently sought his assistance in crisis resolution. Nevertheless, the complexities introduced by the divergent perspectives made his narrative profoundly challenging. A prominent political leader, Jalal Talabani was without a doubt. He established the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which is one of the most significant Kurdish political organizations. For more than five decades, he was a devoted resistance combatant who transitioned into a political leader, advocating for the rights of his constituents and for democracy. He made a large contribution to the integration of women into the Peshmerga forces. In both the party and the Peshmerga, Talabani's party, PUK, vigorously promoted women's leadership and involvement. He personally supported initiatives to safeguard women's rights. The establishment of a women's Peshmerga unit, which was proposed by Nahida Rashid and completely supported by Talabani, is a notable example. Rashid became the leader of this company, which served as the foundation of what is now known as a battalion.