Bafel Talabani

Overview

Bafel Talabani is a Kurdish political leader and son of Jalal Talabani, the former president of Iraq and founder of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). Bafel succeeded his father within the party’s leadership, first sharing its leadership with his cousin Lahur Talabani and later taking control after their split. Based in Sulaymaniyah, the PUK is a longstanding rival of the Barzani-led Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). The parties compete for influence within the Kurdistan Region, in Baghdad and in the oil-rich city of Kirkuk.

Early life

Born in 1973, Bafel is Jalal Talabani’s eldest son. His younger brother, Qubad Talabani, became deputy prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government. Jalal led the PUK for decades before his death in 2017. The party’s influence had already come under pressure after he fell ill in 2012, while the KDP gained ground. Those circumstances shaped the succession: Bafel and Lahur initially sought to work together against their common rival.

Career

Following the 2017 Kurdistan Region independence referendum and the withdrawal of Kurdish forces from Kirkuk, Bafel reached a nine-article agreement with Hadi al-Amiri, leader of the Badr Organization. Iraqi Kurdish parliamentarian Masoud Haydar subsequently published its terms. Qasem Soleimani, commander of Iran’s Quds Force, brokered the agreement under the supervision of Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi. It provided for PUK Peshmerga withdrawal from areas disputed with Iraq’s central government and transfer of strategic sites in and around Kirkuk, including oil and gas fields, to Baghdad.

Other provisions called for a joint committee to manage central Kirkuk province, renewed flights from Sulaymaniyah airport and Iraqi government salary payments to employees in Sulaymaniyah and Kirkuk. Bafel was to prepare lists for payments to Peshmerga fighters in Sulaymaniyah. The agreement also envisaged a new PUK-controlled area in Kurdistan. Its terms placed Bafel at the center of the political settlement accompanying Baghdad’s return to Kirkuk.

Bafel and Lahur became PUK co-leaders in February 2020. Their arrangement broke down in 2021. Bafel temporarily stripped Lahur of co-leadership duties and removed officials aligned with him from party positions. Security forces raided media outlets aligned with Lahur, while Sulaymaniyah’s judicial system issued arrest warrants for Lahur and two of his brothers, including Polad Talabani, a former counterterrorism unit chief. Qubad backed Bafel, as did PUK figures Jaafar Sheikh Mustafa and Kosrat Rasul Ali. Mustafa and Rasul Ali controlled the largest number of party-affiliated Peshmerga forces in Sulaymaniyah. Bafel retained the PUK’s election alliance with the Goran movement during the crisis.

Bafel also maintained relationships in Baghdad relevant to negotiations over the Kurdistan Region’s budget, oil law and stalled oil exports through Turkey. He traveled to Baghdad to mediate with the Shia Coordination Framework over an outcome affecting Iraq–Turkey oil exports. The United States provided the Bafel-led PUK with close military and intelligence support. Meanwhile, contacts between the PUK and the Syrian Democratic Forces, including interactions by Bafel, strained relations with Turkey.

Role in attacks or conflicts

Bafel’s 2017 Kirkuk agreement followed an armed and political confrontation over control of the city after the independence referendum. The withdrawal and transfer provisions affected territory, security forces and energy assets central to the rivalry between Baghdad and Kurdish leaders. Within the PUK, his later struggle with Lahur extended beyond party offices to competing security networks. Removing Lahur consolidated Bafel’s control but left divisions that threatened party discipline and raised the risk of confrontation among rival armed forces.

In July 2022, Bafel met Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani during Qaani’s visit to Iraq. They discussed the nomination for Iraq’s presidency, a position then contested between the PUK and KDP. On September 10, 2023, Bafel arrived in Tehran for meetings with senior officials of the Iranian regime. The visit occurred amid regime demands that Iraq dismantle Kurdish separatist groups operating in the Kurdistan Region.

Bafel remained active in Kirkuk politics. His PUK joined a coalition with the Babylon Movement, which was aligned with the Popular Mobilization Forces, three Arab members of the Progress Party and Shia Coordination Framework forces. At an August 10 session attended by Bafel, Asa’ib Ahl al-Haqq leader Qais al-Khazali and other political figures, the coalition formed a local government by majority vote and elected PUK member Rebwar Taha governor. The KDP and Iraqi Turkmen Front did not participate; about half of the Arab forces were also absent. The outcome gave the PUK the governorship while leaving significant blocs outside the session.

Current status

Bafel remained PUK leader during the October 2024 Kurdistan regional elections. Lahur’s breakaway party performed poorly, while the Goran movement also underperformed. The election left the Barzani family leading the KDP and the Talabani family leading the PUK, the two parties that have long dominated politics in the Kurdistan Region.

Legacy

Bafel’s leadership reflects both the PUK’s enduring place in Kurdish politics and the limits of succession through a political family. He secured control after removing Lahur and kept the party involved in negotiations over Kirkuk, Iraq’s presidency and oil exports. The split nevertheless exposed weaknesses in party unity and in the family-based system through which the PUK had managed its leadership after Jalal Talabani’s death.