Who is Nechirvan Barzani?

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Nechirvan Barzani has served as the President of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) since his election in June 2019. Prior to this, he held positions as both Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of the KRG. His political career began with his election to the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in 1989.

He studied politics and international relations at the University of Tehran in Iran and later received an honorary Doctor of Public Service from Washington and Jefferson College in Pennsylvania, U.S. As the nephew of Masoud Barzani and the grandson of KDP founder Mustafa Barzani, he has been a central figure in Kurdish politics.

Nechirvan is widely seen as the architect of the independent oil sales policy, which has been linked to the failure to pay 54 months’ worth of employee salaries over the past 12 years. In recent years, his influence has waned, with his cousin, Masrour Barzani, overshadowing him politically. Despite this, he maintains significant wealth through his extensive real estate holdings, as well as ownership of private schools and universities in Iraq.

Author Profile
Diyar Harki
Diyar Harki is an independent investigative journalist and human rights advocate. As a member of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), he focuses on exposing corruption and human rights abuses in Kurdistan and Iraq. He voluntarily contributes to Kurdfile Media.