Former Kurdistan VP, PUK acting head flies to Germany for medical treatment

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) - Former Vice-President of the Kurdistan Region and current acting head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) party, Kosrat Rasul Ali flew to Berlin on Wednesday to receive proper treatment after recently being hospitalized in Sulaimani Province.

Ali, along with his wife and Saadi Pira, the spokesperson of PUK, traveled via the Ibrahim Khalil International Border Crossing to Turkey and then flew to Berlin, a security source at the crossing told Kurdistan 24 Correspondent Islami Yousuf on Wednesday.

Ali is the first deputy for the Secretary-General of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and a prominent Kurdish veteran Peshmerga military commander.

He was transferred to a hospital on Saturday after his health condition deteriorated. That same day, Darbaz Kosrat Rasul, the VP's son, held a joint press conference with the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) Minister of Health, Rekawt Rashid, at the Faruq Hospital in Slemani.

He assured the people of the Kurdistan Region that his father’s health condition was stable and that doctors had successfully operated.

The PUK is the third-largest political party in the Kurdistan Region, with 18 seats in Parliament out of 111.

The party has been facing internal political turmoil and disunity after its leader, and former President of Iraq, Jalal Talabani suffered a stroke in the late 2012 and passed away on Oct. 3, 2017, in Berlin.

Editing by Nadia Riva