Falah Mustafa Bakir

Falah Mustafa Bakir (Sorani Kurdish: فەلاح مستەفا‎; born 1964) is a politician from Iraqi Kurdistan and has served as Head of Department of Foreign Relations[1] for Kurdistan Regional Government since 2006.

Falah Mustafa Bakir
کوڕی کەر فەلاح مستەفا
Foreign Minister of Iraqi Kurdistan
Assumed office
September 2006
Prime MinisterNechervan Barzani
Preceded byPosition created
Personal details
Born1964
Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan
NationalityIraqi

Early life and education

Falah Mustafa Bakir was born in Erbil in 1964.[2][3] He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Language and Literature from the University of Mosul in Mosul, Iraq in 1986.[2][3] He received a master's degree in Development Studies from the University of Bath in Bath, Somerset, England in 1995. He speaks Kurdish, English and Arabic fluently.[2]

Career

Early positions

He originally served as Public Relations Officer of the Kurdistan Democratic Party from 1996 to 1999, then was KRG Deputy Minister of Agriculture & Irrigation from 1999 to 2002.[2][3][4] Afterwards, he served as a Senior Adviser to KRG Prime Minister Nechervan Idris Barzani from 2002 to 2004.[2][3][4] He was Kurdistan liaison officer for the Coalition Provisional Authority in 2003 and was liaison officer for the Multi-National Forces Korean Contingent stationed in Erbil in 2004.[2][3][4] In 2004 still, he was appointed as Minister of State of Kurdistan.[2][3][4]

Foreign Minister of the KDP
Bakir and Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz in June 2015.

In 2006, he created the Kurdistan Department of Foreign Relations, and he has served as its Foreign Minister since then[2][3] after taking the role in September 2006.[4]

In September 2016, he remained Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) minister of foreign relations. That month he asserted that "if we reach an agreement with Baghdad (on statehood), there may not be a need for a referendum."[5]

In October 2016, he stated publicly that the Peshmerga were suffering casualties due to a lack of air support.[6]

He is a frequent guest lecturer at Salahaddin University in Erbil.[2][3][4]

Personal life

He is married and lives with his wife and four children in Erbil.[2][3]

See also

References
  1. "Minister Falah Mustafa Bakir, Head of the Department of Foreign Relations". Retrieved 2016-12-07.
  2. Kurdistan Regional Government: Minister Falah Mustafa Bakir - Head of the Department of Foreign Relations
  3. Department of Foreign Relations: Minister Falah Mustafa Bakir, Head of the Department of Foreign Relations
  4. VIP Lunch in honour of Minister Falah Mustafa Bakir, Middle East Association, October 16, 2013
  5. "Kurdish foreign minister: 'We are suffering from lack of sovereignty'", RUDAW, September 17, 2016, retrieved April 3, 2017
  6. "KRG FM: Peshmerga have not received the air support that was expected", RUDAW, September 17, 2016, retrieved April 3, 2017
Political offices
Preceded by
Position created		 1st Foreign Minister of Iraqi Kurdistan
September 2006-present		 Incumbent
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