MESOP NEWS : GORRAN LEADER BACK FROM TREATMENT IN LONDON HOSPITAL AFTER STROKE

Gorran’s Nawshirwan returns to Iraqi Kurdistan after months abroad

14 May 2015 – SULAIMANI, Iraq’s Kurdistan region,— The leader of the Change (Gorran) Movement, Nawshirwan Mustafa, returned back to Iraq’s Kurdistan Region on Saturday from a medical trip in London.Mustafa arrived early this morning into Sulaimani International Airport.His office had not previously provided a definitive time frame for Mustafa’s return to the Kurdistan Region, however the possibility of a May 9 return had been circulated according to a member of the Kurdistan Parliament from Gorran, Munira Othman, NRT reported.

Mustafa went to Germany for medical treatment in September 2015. After his stay in Germany, he went to the U.K. for a “medical follow-up.” He returned to Kurdistan for a short time in April 2016.Shorsh Haji, spokesperson of Gorran told Rudaw that he was unaware of what prompted Mustafa’s return.

Since then the Gorran head has been largely absent amid a political crisis that has threatened at times to destabilize the region.Gorran has 24 seats in now-closed Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament, the second most after the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). His wife passed away in March, but he could not attend her funeral held in Sulaimani.

Crises inside Iraqi Kurdistan deepened following the expiration of Massoud Barzani’s term as president. Barzani refused to step down and remains unofficially in office.

Since October 2015 the Kurdistan parliament has closed after parliament’s Speaker Yusuf Mohammed Sadiq, from Gorran, was prevented by Massoud Barzani forces from entering Erbil city on October 12, 2015 and Kurdistan PM Nechirvan Barzani has removed four members of his cabinet from the Change Movement and replaced them with KDP politicians.Gorran leader earlier criticized the KDP led by Massoud Barzani policies at the current stage, accusing the party of “[fabricating a] political crises in order to keep the political situation unchanged.”