Gorran Leader Nawshirwan Mustafa dies at age 73 in Sulaimani

SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) - The head of Gorran Movement Nawshirwan Mustafa, 73, died in his hometown province of Sulaimani in the Kurdistan Region, the party announced on Friday.

The 73-years-old leader was born in Sulaimani in 1944. He left the Kurdistan Region and flew to the United Kingdom in Sep. 2016 to receive medical treatment.

His wife passed away in March 2017, but Mustafa was unable to attend her funeral in Sulaimani as he was receiving treatment in the UK.

Mustafa was one of the leaders of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), but in 2009, broke away from the PUK to establish Gorran (Change Movement) party, due to the escalating political infighting within the PUK.

Gorran holds 24 seats in the parliament of the Kurdistan Region, the second largest party after the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

In 1967, Mustafa studied Political Science in Baghdad. In 1981, he got married and has three children named Nima, Chira, and Chiya.

On May 13, 2017, Mustafa returned to the Kurdistan Region but succumbed to his illness, for which he was receiving treatment in the UK, on May 19, 2017.

Editing by G. H. Renaud