The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (Kurdish: Yaketi Nishtimani Kurdistan) is an Iraqi Kurdish political party led by the leading political figure Jalal Talabani and based in the Kurdish governate of As Sulaymaniyah in northeastern Iraq. The party intially appealed to the urban intellectual class of Iraqi Kurdistan but has in recent years adapted and broadened its appeal to all sections of society. The PUK was founded in 1975 after the other major Kurdish party in Iraq, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) had suffered a major setback after the Algiers Accord and was briefly disbanded. Originally, it was a leftist political movement which has progressively moved towards the centre and has now become a social democratic party. The PUK is a coalition of five separate factions that united under Jalal Talabani, also known as Mam ("Uncle") Jalal; the leading factions were the Komala ("group") and Shorish Geran ("revolution spreaders"). The PUK received grassroots support from urban intellectual Kurds, while those who supported KDP did so out of tribal affiliation.
The PUK is one of the leading Iraqi anti-Saddam groups. Since the first Gulf War, the PUK has jointly administered northern Iraqi Kurdistan with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). Part of this area was protected by the northern Iraq No-Fly Zone, although the provisional capital of the PUK administered zone was Sulaimaniya which did not fall above the 36th parallel and was therefore not protected by the no fly zone and faced constant threats from the central government.
Jalal Talabani was a prominent member of the Iraqi governing council before the council was disbanded. Dr Barham Salih was formerly the Prime Minister of northeastern Iraq; he is currently the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister. The Minister of Irrigation and the Minister of Planning were also members of the PUK in the interim Iraqi government.
The PUK has joined with the KDP and smaller parties to form the Democratic Patriotic Alliance of Kurdistan as an umbrella group contesting the Iraqi National Assembly election, 2005. This unified Kurdish list gained 25.6% of the vote on the first democratic Iraqi elections on the 31st of January, 2005. Talabani is now the president of the republic of Iraq.
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