Bafel Talabani

Bafel Talabani (born 1973) is an Iraqi Kurdish politician and an emerging political figure and dealmaker in the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). He is the older son of PUK leader Jalal Talabani and was considered very close to his father.

Military career

Bafel underwent formal military training with the French Foreign Legion and British Special Forces. Following the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, Bafel returned to Kurdistan and took up his first official role as head of the Zanyari, the PUK's intelligence unit. In 2004, he created and commanded the Counter Terrorism Group (CTG), recruited from within Kurdistan's Peshmerga armed forces, that was focused on delivering front-line military counter-insurgency capability in support of U.S.-led coalition objectives. These were initially focused on combatting the spread of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. That same year, his name was associated with a counterintelligence mission that resulted in the killing of Abdullah Qasre, a member of the Kurdistan Islamic Group's (Komal) political bureau.

He stepped down from active military service in 2010 to support the political interests of the PUK. Nevertheless, he continued to be engaged with the fight against The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), also known as ISIL or Daesh, through his leadership of the CTG and coordination with the Iraqi armed forces. This effort led to the historic liberation of Mosul and ultimately the defeat of ISIS.

Political career

After leaving active service, Bafel based himself at the family compound in Sulaymaniyah. He is credited as being a dealmaker and a political fixer within the party, as well as being able to move smoothly across partisan divides in the best interests of Kurdistan. Bafel was also behind his younger brother Qubad Talabani's emergence as a political figure with the latter becoming deputy prime minister of Iraqi Kurdistan.

In 2016, Bafel headed PUK's decision-making body and accompanied PUK's delegation to Iran for talks. He is claimed to have had a decisive role in bringing back traditional PUK leaders as a strongman of the Talabani family. He is credited with de-escalating PUK tensions, restoring a joint leadership of PUK with Gorran [Change Movement] and preparing a unified response to Masoud Barzani, former President of Iraqi Kurdistan and strongman of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

Developments in late 2017

During the Kurdistan independence referendum of September 2017, Bafel mediated between the top-level leadership of the KRG, Iraq and the international community, and worked to present an alternative delayed-vote solution. Although accepted by the main actors both internally and externally, the solution was ultimately rejected by Masoud Barzani at the eleventh hour.

Bafel blamed the loss of Kirkuk and oil-rich regions on the decision of the Kurdish leadership to go ahead with a referendum on independence. He called the decision a "colossal mistake", saying a U.S. proposal to postpone the referendum by two years should have been accepted. This would have avoided the current situation in which Iraqi federal forces regained control of areas managed by Kurds since 2014.

In October, Iraqi forces took control of Kirkuk province after intense fighting against Kurdish Peshmerga forces. Bafel Talabani purportedly ordered his military forces to withdraw from the region thus allowing the Iraqi Army and the Shia militia Popular Mobilization Forces (Hashd al-Shaabi) to reestablish control of the region. Subsequently, he has been criticized by nationalist Kurdish forces for the "betrayal" of the Kurdish struggle for independence.

Bafel, however, strongly denied the accusations. He rejected as "baseless" claims that this was part of a deal he had brokered with Baghdad and Tehran, arguing that his forces had indeed fought and lost soldiers but decided to withdraw because of too many losses had occurred within the ranks of the Peshmerga.

Moreover, it emerged in a New York Times interview published in November 2017 that before the hand-over of Kirkuk, Bafel proposed yet another out of the box solution. He envisioned troops from the American-led coalition against ISIS to take over a large military base near Kirkuk, along with federal forces and Kurdish forces loyal to his father’s party. According to the New York Times article, Bafel was unable to build consensus among the PUK and the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party to proceed with his alternative plan.

Following his father's death in October 2017 and recent events, Bafel is focused on supporting the re-emergence and reinvigoration of the PUK to be able to deliver an economically strong, socially inclusive and stable Kurdistan.

Personal life

He is the son of Jalal Talabani, Secretary-General of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and Hero Ibrahim Ahmed. He is the older brother of Qubad Talabani. He is married to the daughter of Mala Bakhiyar, considered a mastermind of the PUK.