Mala Bakhtiyar

Hikmat Muhammad Karim (born 20 August 1954, Khanaqin),^[1] known as Mala Bakhtiyar or Mala Bakhtiar (Kurdish: مه‌لا به‌ختیار ,Mala Baxtiyar),^[2][3] is a prominent political leader and senior Iraqi Kurdish politician.^[4] He is a commander and General of the Kurdish PUK Peshmerga forces and is considered one of the most powerful people in Iraq.^[5] Mala Bakhtiar previously served as the chief of the Executive Bureau of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.^[6] Currently, he is the joint leader of the Supreme Political Council of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), alongside Kosrat Rasul Ali.^[7]

Mala Bakhtiyar
حیکمەت محەممەد کەریم (مەلا بەختیار)
Born	Hikmat Muhammad Karim (1954-08-20) August 20, 1954 (age 70) Khanaqin
Nationality	Iraqi
Other names	Mala Bakhtiyar
Citizenship	Iraq
Occupation(s)	politician Writer
Years active	1970–Present
Title	Politician
Political party	Patriotic Union of Kurdistan

In 1986, Bakhtiyar left the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan to establish his own party, called Alayî Şoriş (Banner of Revolution). However, in 1990, the party merged with the Kurdistan Toilers' Party.^[8] Following the 1992 Kurdistan Region parliamentary election, Mala Bakhtiyar and most of the former Alayî Şoriş leadership left the party and rejoined the PUK. Upon his return, he became a member of the party's leadership council.^[9]

Mala Bakhtiar was awarded a medal for being the best national and intellectual figure of the middle east by the International Union of Economists and Managers in the European Union and was recognized as an international democratic figure in 2014.^[10] His power was on the rise after the PUK held its 4th congress on 19 December 2019, during which he was elected into the Supreme Political Council of the PUK.^[11] In November 2021, it was reported that he had been poisoned and was receiving treatment.^[12] On 13 November 2021, after receiving treatment in Berlin, Germany, he returned to Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan, where he received a hero’s welcome.^[13]

Books and publications

• "Kurdish Revolution and Modern Changes","published in 1992.
• "Becoming Rebellious to History," Second Edition in 1998.
• "At service of Literature," 1998.
• "Democracy after Cold War," published in 1999.
• "Collection of Some Topics," published in 1999.
• "Democracy between Modernism and Post-modernism," published in 2000.
• "Rational Freedom and Civil Society" in 2001.
• "Democracy and its Enemies" First Edition in 2006, and the second edition in 2014.
• "A Bunch of History of Kurdistan Toilers Party, or Komala in 2012.
• "Spiritual Totalitarianism and Duties of Modern Enlightenment, A Response to Secretary-General of Kurdistan Islamic Union’s Report in 2013.
• "Anaka Discourse and Turning of Contemporary Kurdish Struggle," booklet, in 2013.
• A Group of Essays on the 38th anniversary of PUK.
• "Intersection of Democracy and Salafism," first edition, 2014.
• "Modern Political Roadmap in the Middle East," in 2014.
• "Kurdistan Revolutions and Modern Changes," in 2015.
• Kurdistan, HDP and Turkey, Towards Which Political Harbor?
• ISIS, Expectations of its Emergence and Its Risks.