Falah Mustafa Bakir

Falah Mustafa Bakir (Sorani Kurdish: فەلاح مستەفا بەکر‎; born 1964) Minister Falah Mustafa Bakir is a politician from Iraqi Kurdistan and is Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to Nechirvan Barzani, President of Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Falah Mustafa Bakir
فەلاح مستەفا
Foreign Minister of Iraqi Kurdistan
In office
September 2006 – 2019
Prime MinisterNechervan Barzani
Preceded byPosition created
Personal details
Born02/04/1964
Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan
NationalityIraqi
Alma materUniversity of Mosul University of Bath Kennedy School of Government
CabinetCabinet 5-9

He was appointed to this position in August 2019, after having served as the first Head of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Department of Foreign Relations (DFR) from 2006 to 2019.

Falah Mustafa and Secretary Kerry Following His Arrival in Iraq
Ömer Çelik, Minister of European Union Affairs of Turkey, with Kurdistan Regional Government Head of Foreign Relations Falah Mustafa Bakir.

Early life and education
Lord Howell meeting Falah Bakir Mustafa

Falah Mustafa Bakir was born in Erbil in 1964. Minister Bakir obtained his undergraduate degree at the University of Mosul Iraq, his graduate degree in Development Studies at the University of Bath in the United Kingdom, and a senior manager's executive program certificate at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. He is fluent in Kurdish, Arabic, and English.

Foreign Minister of the KRG
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[1][2] after taking the role in September 2006.[3]

In September 2016, he remained Kurdistan Regional Government's 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."[4]

In October 2016, he stated publicly that the Peshmerga were suffering casualties due to a lack of air support.[5]

Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt meeting Minister Falah Mustafa Bakir, Kurdistan Regional Government, Department of Foreign Relations in London, 15 June 2010.

He is a frequent guest lecturer at Salahaddin University in Erbil.[1][2][3]

Personal life

He is married and lives with his wife and four children in Erbil.[1][2]

See also

References
  1. Kurdistan Regional Government: Minister Falah Mustafa Bakir - Head of the Department of Foreign Relations
  2. Department of Foreign Relations: Minister Falah Mustafa Bakir, Head of the Department of Foreign Relations
  3. VIP Lunch in honour of Minister Falah Mustafa Bakir, Middle East Association, October 16, 2013
  4. "Kurdish foreign minister: 'We are suffering from lack of sovereignty'", RUDAW, September 17, 2016, retrieved April 3, 2017
  5. "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 2006-2019		 Incumbent
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