Aram Shahin Davud Bakoyan (born 1954) is a member of parliament 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 ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. He is of

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

n origin. He was a member of the Kurdish

Peshmerga The Peshmerga () are the internal security forces of Kurdistan Region. According to the Constitution of Iraq, regional governments are responsible for "the establishment and organization of the internal security forces for the region such as p ...

fighters between 1968 and 1974, was then imprisoned and tortured under the

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 ...

regime, and after release became a leader of the Armenian community in

Zakho Zakho, also spelled Zaxo (, , , , ) is a city in the Kurdistan Region, at the centre of the Zakho District of the Dohuk Governorate, located a few kilometers from the Ibrahim Khalil border crossing. Zakho is known for its celebrations of Newr ...

. He was elected to the Kurdistan national parliament in 2009.

Family

Bakoyan was born in 1954 in Avzrog Miri, in the north of

. He is a descendant of the clan Geznakh in

Hakkari Hakkari or Hakkâri may refer to: *Hakkari (historical region), a historical region in modern-day Turkey and Iraq *Hakkâri (city), a city and the capital of Hakkâri Province, Turkey *Hakkâri Province Hakkâri Province (, ; ), is a province i ...

, today's North Kurdistan (Turkey). He has three sons and one daughter.

Political career

For the 2009 parliamentary elections in Federal Kurdistan Region, eleven of the 111 seats were reserved for minorities, including

Assyrians Assyrians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to Mesopotamia, a geographical region in West Asia. Modern Assyrians share descent directly from the ancient Assyrians, one of the key civilizations of Mesopotamia. While they are distinct from ot ...

, Turkmen and Armenians. Aram Bakoyan was one of the three Armenian candidates who ran in the election campaign and he was elected. Although there were only about 800 Armenians in Kurdistan who had the right to vote at that time, Aram Bakoyan got 4200 votes. His rivals Aertex Morses Sargisyan and Eshkhan Melkon Sargisyan won respectively 2900 and 880 votes. One important reason for the

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 ...

support for the Armenian candidates and particularly for Aram Bakoyan, is the fact that he was already well known for his Peshmerga (Kurdish freedom fighter) past. In 1968 he and six other Armenians from

joined the Peshmerga, fighting alongside Kurdish members of the KDP against the Baath regime of

. In 1974 Bakoyan was injured by a cannon blast in the left shoulder and stayed three months in a hospital in Mahabad, in Kurdistan in Iran. His left arm remained immobilised. After coming back home, in 1977 Bakoyan was sentenced to five years in prison for his political activities. In prison Bakoyan was tortured, as were many other Kurdish political prisoners at that time. In 1979 he was released and he continued to participate actively in political and social life. Bakoyan was elected twice as leader of the

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

community in

in 1982-1990. Today Aram is member of two committees in the Parliament - the committee for Municipalities and the committee for Housing and Reconstruction. He contributes to the new developments in Kurdistan Region, but he also works to preserve the Armenian cultural heritage and to help the Armenian community.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bakoyan, Aram Shahin Davud Members of the Kurdistan Region Parliament 1954 births Living people Iraqi people of Armenian descent