Εκδήλωση στο Λονδίνο: Ιρακινό Κουρδιστάν: Από τη Γενοκτονία στην Ελευθερία και την Ομοσπονδοποίηση

‘Iraqi Kurdistan: From Genocide to Liberation and Federalism’ 

A Discussion with Minister Falah Mustafa Bakir,

Head of the Department of Foreign Relations of the Kurdistan Regional Government

A Joint Meeting with the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Kurdistan Region in Iraq

SPEAKER: Minister Falah Mustafa Bakir 

Head of the Department of Foreign Relations

Kurdistan Regional Government

        TIME: 1 - 2pm, Wednesday 9^th April 2014

VENUE: Committee Room 9, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
To attend please RSVP to: researchassistant10@henryjacksonsociety.org

Despite the upheaval and violence that has occurred in Iraq over the last decade, the one region which has remained relatively stable is that of Iraqi Kurdistan. The Kurdistan Regional Government has maintained security while exploiting its natural resources. They have also carved out an increasingly influential role politically in the fractious Iraqi system of governance, and with elections scheduled in Iraq for this year, the Kurds could once again play a potentially key kingmaker role.

The increased importance of Iraqi Kurdistan has also been noted by the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, which recently launched an inquiry into its policy in relation to this region.

By kind invitation of Meg Munn MP (Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Kurdistan Region in Iraq), The Henry Jackson Society is pleased to invite you to a discussion with Minister Falah Mustafa Bakir, Head of the Department of Foreign Relations of the Kurdistan Regional Government. Mr Bakir will discuss the role of the Kurds in Iraq today, and the extent to which they will be influential new players in an increasingly dangerous Middle East.

Biography

Minister Falah Mustafa Bakir was appointed as the first Head of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Department of Foreign Relations with ministerial rank in September 2006.

Born in the city of Erbil in 1964, he completed his undergraduate studies in English Language and Literature at the University of Mosul in 1986. He received a Masters degree in Development Studies in 1995 at the University of Bath in the United Kingdom, and completed the executive programme for senior managers in government at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government in 2001 in the United States of America.

Mr Bakir served as the Public Relations Officer of the Kurdistan Democratic Party from 1996 to 1999 and as the KRG Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation from 1999 to 2002. He was a Senior Adviser to the KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani from 2002 to 2004 when he was appointed Minister of State. He also served as the KRG’s liaison officer to the Coalition Provisional Authority in 2003 and to the Multi-National Forces Korean Contingent stationed in Erbil in 2004.

Having been tasked with creating the KRG Department of Foreign Relations (DFR) in 2006, Mr Bakir managed the Department through the duration of the 5th and 6th Cabinets of the KRG and is now serving in the 7th Cabinet as well.

He is a well-received lecturer and frequently represents the KRG at international conferences around the world. Being fluent in Kurdish, English and Arabic, he often delivers speeches at leading universities and think tanks abroad and appears regularly as a guest lecturer at the University of Salahaddin in Erbil.

Mr Bakir promotes and encourages scholarship and training programmes for the people of Kurdistan, and he works regularly with postgraduate students both locally and abroad.

He lives with his wife and their four children in Erbil, Kurdistan Region – Iraq.