Adham Osman Ahmed Barzani (

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

: ئەدهەم عوسمان ئەحمەد بارزانی; born April 16, 1962) is a

politician and former member of the

Kurdistan Democratic Party The Kurdistan Democratic Party (), usually abbreviated as KDP or PDK, is the ruling Political party, party in Iraqi Kurdistan and the senior partner in the Kurdistan Regional Government. It was founded in 1946 in Mahabad in Iranian Kurdistan. ...

in the

Kurdistan Region Kurdistan Region (KRI) is a semi-autonomous Federal regions of Iraq, federal region of the Iraq, Republic of Iraq. It comprises four Kurds, Kurdish-majority governorates of Arabs, Arab-majority Iraq: Erbil Governorate, Sulaymaniyah Governorate ...

Biography

He was born in Barzan on April 16, 1962, to Osman Barzani, the son of

Ahmed Barzani Ahmed Mohammad Barzani (1896 – 11 January 1969) (), also known as Khudan (), was a Kurdish leader of the Barzani tribe. The first of the major Barzani revolts took place in 1931 after Sheikh Ahmed Barzani, one of the most prominent Kurdish lea ...

. He began his political career establishing the Kurdistan Revolutionary Hezbollah in 1988. Like other Iraqi Kurdish parties, the group received funds from

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

against

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

however the ideology of the group was Islamist in nature as opposed to the majority Kurdish groups which were secular. Kurdish Revolutionary Hezbollah was inactive after 2004, after which Adham Barzani joined the

with the rest of his relatives. In 2011, tensions between him and the

KDP KDP may refer to: Businesses *Kindle Direct Publishing, an e-publisher that bans without reason *Keurig Dr Pepper, a beverage conglomerate Political parties * Karpatendeutsche Partei (KdP; Carpathian Germany Party), Czechoslovakia * Katipunan ...

began after he claimed that

Masoud Barzani Masoud Barzani (; born 16 August 1946) is a Kurdish politician who has been leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) since 1979, and was President of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq from 2005 to 2017. Early life and career Barzani was bo ...

needed reform if he wanted to maintain his credibility. In 2014, he left the KDP and resigned from all his government posts. In March 2015, he expressed his desire to establish a new political movement after criticising

and the KDP. He criticised the close ties between the KDP and

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, and he opposed Turkish military presence in

Iraqi Kurdistan Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan () refers to the Kurds, Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of Greater Kurdistan in West Asia, which also includes parts of southeastern Turkey (Northern Kurdist ...

. He frequently called for the KDP to release detained activists and journalists in the

. Referring to the Turkish intervention in

, he stated that "whenever

has occupied a piece of territory, it has never withdrawn from it", and demanded

to keep its conflict with the

PKK The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK, isDespite the PKK's 12th Congress announcing plans for total organisational dissolution, the PKK has not yet been dissolved de facto or de jure. a Kurdish militant political organization and armed gue ...

inside

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

borders. In May 2021, he sent a letter to the

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

leadership, in which he expressed his support for them against

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. He had ties with

Hüseyin Velioğlu Hüseyin Velioğlu (born Hüseyin Durmaz; January 1, 1952January 17, 2000) was the founder and leader of the Kurdish Hezbollah, a Kurdish separatist and Islamist group which was designated as a terrorist group by the Turkish government. He was k ...

, and in 1999 he hosted Velioğlu in the city of

Soran, Iraq Soran () or Diyana (, ) is a city in Erbil Governorate, and the capital of Soran District in Kurdistan Region, Iraq. Soran is one of the largest cities in Kurdistan Region with a population of about 350,000 people. History The city and distric ...

, in which 300

Kurdish Hezbollah Kurdish Hezbollah (, )
, turkishweekly.net or Hizbullah, ...

fighters received training to use against Turkey. In June 2019, he was visited by

İshak Sağlam İshak Sağlam (b. 1966; Kozluk) is a Kurdish politician and lawyer in Turkey who led the Kurdish Islamist Free Cause Party from October 2018 to June 2021. He subsequently became deputy chairman and head of human rights and legal affairs of the ...

of the

Free Cause Party The Free Cause Party (, HÜDA PAR) is a Kurdish Sunni Islamist political party in Turkey. It is centered in the city of Batman, Turkey. History Roots Following the decision to end armed struggle in 2002, activists of the Hizbullah's Menzil ...

. He was eventually banned from entering

Erbil Erbil (, ; , ), also called Hawler (, ), is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The city is the capital of the Erbil Governorate. Human settlement at Erbil may be dated back to the 5th millennium BC. At the h ...

by the

Kurdistan Regional Government The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is the official executive body of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq. The cabinet is selected by the majority party or list who also select the prime minister of the Iraqi Kurdish poli ...

. In July 2024, the Erbil Security Directorate of the KDP government issued an arrest warrant for Adham Barzani.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barzani, Adham 1962 births Living people Kurdistan Democratic Party politicians