Falah Mustafa Bakir

Falah Mustafa Bakir (born 1964) is a politician from Iraqi Kurdistan and has served as the Foreign Minister of the region since 2006.

Biography

Early life and education

Falah Mustafa Bakir was born in Erbil in 1964.^[1][2] He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Language and Literature from the University of Mosul in Mosul, Iraq in 1986.^[1][2] He received a Masters degree in Development Studies from the University of Bath in Bath, Somerset, England in 1995, and completed the executive programme for senior managers in government at the John F. Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University in 2001.^[1][2] He speaks Kurdish, English and Arabic fluently.^[1]

Career

He originally served as Public Relations Officer of the Kurdistan Democratic Party from 1996 to 1999, then was KRG Deputy Minister of Agriculture & Irrigation from 1999 to 2002.^[1][2][3] Afterwards, he served as a Senior Adviser to KRG Prime Minister Nechervan Idris Barzani from 2002 to 2004.^[1][2][3] He was Kurdistan liaison officer for the Coalition Provisional Authority in 2003 and was liaison officer for the Multi-National Forces Korean Contingent stationed in Erbil in 2004.^[1][2][3] In 2004 still, he was appointed as Minister of State of Kurdistan.^[1][2][3]

In 2006, he created the Kurdistan Department of Foreign Relations, and he has served as its Foreign Minister since then.^[1][2][3] He is a frequent guest lecturer at Salahaddin University in Erbil.^[1][2][3]

Personal life

He is married, and has four children.^[1][2] They reside in Erbil, Kurdistan, Iraq.^[1][2]

References