Things began in early July when Bafel Talabani, the co-head of the PUK and his brother Qubad Talabani the deputy Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) started pushing out allies of his cousin Lahur Talabani. That led to a standoff between security forces loyal to Bafel and Lahur in Sulaymaniya on July 8. Three days later, Bafel and Qubad announced the new heads of the PUK intelligence agency the Zenari and the counter terror unit. The Zenari was headed by Mohammed Talabani the nephew of Lahur, while his brother Polad Talabani oversaw counterterrorism. That was followed by PUK forces raiding iPLUS TV and Zhyan News which are both pro-Lahur. On July 15 Lahur stated he wouldn’t back down in his struggle with Bafel, but the next day he said he was giving up, and then he was stripped of all powers on July 17. Besides Bafel wanting complete control of the party there was also mentions of the two cousins arguing over money and assets. Lahur for instance was said to control smuggling and other businesses in Sulaymaniya.
The PUK has been a mess for years now. Jalal Talabani passed away in 2017 but he was sick and incapacitated for years before that. His wife Hero Ibrahim asserted her control, which upset younger members such as Barham Salah who were pushing for changes in how it operated in 2013 but failed. In September 2016 Salah and Kosrat Rasul formed their own faction within the party, in 2018 it couldn’t elect new leadership and expelled Salah, only to bring him back. Finally, in December 2019 it still couldn’t pick a new head and decided to split authority between Bafel and Lahur. Added to that the PUK lost parts of its base in Sulaymaniya to the Gorran Party and became the junior partner to the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). July’s events then were just the latest edition of this eight-year conflict for control within the Patriotic Union.
SOURCES
Al Aalem, “Sources reveal to The New World about Barzani’s relationship with the events in Sulaymaniya,” 7/11/21
eKurd, “Iraqi Kurdistan News in brief – January 5, 2017,” 1/5/17
- “Lahur Sheikh Jangi Talabani the most popular across PUK party: results show,” 12/27/19
- “Security forces raid Lahur Talabani’s iPLus TV after Bafel named as PUK president,” 7/14/21
Hussein, Mohammed, Porter, Lizzie and Otten, Cathy, “PUK leadership rift threatens stability in gas rich Sulaimaniya,” Iraq Oil Report, 7/14/21
NINA, “Barham Saleh proposes unity with the PUK and the latter welcomes the move,” 9/13/18
- “The PUK Strips The Party’s Co-Chair Lahore Janki Of All Powers,” 7/17/21
NRT, “PUK Dismisses Three Senior Members,” 3/17/18
- “PUK’s Bafel Talabani And Lahur Sheikh Jangi Trade Barbs As Tensions Escalate Within Party,” 7/15/21
Al Rafidayn, “Barham leads a rebellion: resign or resolve the file Talabani,” 7/4/13
Rudaw, “Bafel Talabani says shakeup was to root out abuse of PUK institutions,” 7/15/21
- “PUK leadership fails to elect ‘interim leadership,’ 1/26/18
Sirwan, Dilan, “Bafel Talabani named PUK president by party, social media,” Rudaw, 7/12/21
Sotaliraq, “Kosrat Rasul: PUK suffers from internal problems and there are two different views within the party,” 3/26/18
Ur News, “Kurdish leader: Talabani’s party falters differences exacerbated between Hirokhan and Barham Salih,” 10/7/13
Van Wilgenburg, Wladimir, “Intra-PUK power struggle erupts: Bafel Talabani versus Lahur Talabani,” 7/14/21
- “Talabani’s Party Stung by Loss In Iraqi Kurdistan Elections,” Al-Monitor, 10/11/13
Zaman, Amberin, “Power struggle in Iraqi Kurdistan on hold as Talabani brothers prevail,” Al Monitor, 7/16/21
- “Talabani family feud at center of power struggle in Iraqi Kurdistan party,” Al Monitor, 7/15/21
No comments:
Post a Comment