VIDEO: Meet the teenager believed to be the tallest person in Kurdistan Region

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Ibrahim Muzaffer, 19, is considered to be the tallest person in the Kurdistan Region, with the young man expected to continue to grow for another few years.

Muzaffer is 2 meters and 15 centimeters (7 feet) tall, weighing at 87 kilograms. The young man is from the Kurdish disputed town of Altun Kupri (Pirde), located on the outskirts of Erbil.

“I work as a farmer and play with the Erbil Volleyball Club,” Muzaffer told Kurdistan 24 on Monday. “I was 90 kilograms, but because I was fasting during Ramadan, I lost some weight and now I am around 87.”

The teenager participates in multiple sporting activities on a daily basis as he hopes to become one of the best volleyball players in the world.

Wherever Muzaffer goes, crowds form around him with people asking to take their pictures next to him.

“My parents are about 1.85 meter-tall. Two of my brothers are also tall — around 1.9 – 2 meters,” Muzaffer added, claiming his height increases every year by around 10 centimeters.

The Kurdish youth is healthy, but says that due to his height, he often gets back pain doing his work.

“My family often asks me to change lightbulbs because they say I don’t need a ladder,” he joked about. 

Muzaffer mentioned there are challenges that come with his height, such as fitting in cars or buying clothes and shoes that fit.

“I have a hard time finding jeans and shoes my size. Sometimes, I go back home empty-handed, unable to find anything that fits me,” he lamented.

There is no official data to determine the tallest person in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, but, by most accounts, Muzaffer is considered the tallest.

Sabah Jabbar Hadi Jabouri from Iraq’s Diwaniyah, who was born in 1985, registered at 2.42 meters until recently. He died last year in September following surgery he had in India.

Jabouri was a little shorter than the ethnic-Kurd in Turkey, Sultan Kosen, who is the Guinness Book of World Records’ tallest living person today. Kosen’s record-holding height is an impressive 2.46 meters.

Mir Ali, from Iranian Kurdistan (Rojhilat), is another Kurd who became famous for his height, clocking in at 2.20 meters.

Editing by Nadia Riva 

(Additional reporting by Hoshmand Sadiq)