Politicians and Leaders
- Al-Fadhl ibn Muhammad (d. 1031), Shaddadid emir of Arran.
- Shirkuh (d. 1169), Kurdish military commander, uncle of Saladin.
- Saladin (1138–1193), Founder of Ayyubid dynasty and the Muslim leader who defeated crusaders in Battle of Hattin conquered Jerusalem.
- Al-Adil I (1145-1218), brother of Saladin, Ayyubid ruler and general.
- Al-Afdal ibn Salah ad-Din (1169-1225), son of Saladin, second emir of Damascus, Ayyubid leader.
- Al-Ashraf (1178-1237), ruler of the Ayyubid dynasty.
- Al-Kamil (1180-1238), Ayyubid sultan, ruler of North Africa.
- Al-Adil II (1216-1248), Ayyubid sultan of Egypt from 1238 to 1240.
- An-Nasir Yusuf(1228-1260), Ayyubid ruler.
- Dayfa Khatun, first female Ayyubid regent.
- Sulaiman Shah (d. 1258), Commander in chief of the Caliphate army, Governor of Kurdistan.
- Al-Afdal Muhammad, Ayyubid governor of Hama.
- Amir Khan Lepzerin (d. 1610), leader of the Kurds during the Battle of DimDim.
- Bedirhan Bey (1803-1868), Kurdish emir.
- Shaikh Mahmood Barzenji (1878–1956), First King of Kurdistan and leader of the Kurdish nationalist movement in Iraq.
- Ibrahim Heski (?-1931), Kurdish soldier and politician, President of the Republic of Ararat.
- Simko Shikak (1887–1930), Kurdish politician.
- Halis Öztürk (1889-1977), Kurdish soldier, politician. Member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.
- Ferzende (?-1939?), Kurdish soldier and politician.
- Celadet Ali Bedirxan (1893-1951), Kurdish politician.
- Ihsan Nuri (1893-1976), Ottoman and Turkish officer, Kurdish politician, generalissimo of the Kurdish National Forces.
- Qazi Muhammad (1893–1947), President of the Kurdish Republic of Mahabad in 1946.
- Mustafa Barzani (1903–1979), Kurdish leader and founder of KDP
- Karim Sanjabi (1904-1995), politician and founder of National Front, Iran.
- Moshe Barazani (1928–1947), Kurdish Jew and a member of Lehi (The Freedom Fighters of Israel).
- Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou (1930–1989), Kurdish politician, Iran.
- Jalal Talabani (born 1933), Iraqi Kurdish politician, current President of Iraq and secretary general of PUK.
- Ahmad Moftizadeh (1933-1993), political and religious thinker and activist, Iran.
- Medet Serhat (1934–1994), Kurdish lawyer and politician, Turkey.
- Efat Ghazi (1935-1990), assassinated refugee, member of politburo of KDPI and daughter of Ghazi Muhammad, Iran/Sweden.
- Sadegh Sharafkandi (1938-1992), Secretary-General of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran.
- Mahmoud Othman (born 1938), Founder and former Secretary General of the Kurdish Socialist Party. Now a member of parliament.
- Ahmet Türk (born 1942), Chairman of the Democratic Society Party in Turkey
- Nawshirwan Mustafa (born 1944), politician, writer and diarist. Former Deputy Secretary General of Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. Leader of the "Gorran" 'Change' movement. Chairman of the "Wusha" corporation.
- Latif Rashid (born 1944), Kurdish Politician, Iraqi Minister of Water.
- Bahaedin Adab (1945-2007), politician, Iran.
- Mustafa Hijri (born 1945), Secretary General of Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI).
- Sedigh Kamangar (1946-1989), founder and leader of Komalah.
- Massoud Barzani (born 1946), is the President of the Kurdistan Region in Iraq and leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party.
- Foad Mostafa Soltani (1948-1979), revolutionary, Iran.
- Abdullah Öcalan (born 1948), one of the founders of PKK.
- Kamran Hedayati (1949-1996), assassinated dissident, Iran/Sweden.
- Murat Karayılan, acting leader of the PKK.
- Jalal Dabagh (born 1939), Kurdish politician, Iraq. Kurdistan Communist Party-Iraq
- Shahab Sheikh Nuri (1932–1976), founder of the Komalay Ranjdaran Party.
- Leyla Qasim (1952–1974), Kurdish politician and Peshmerga.
- Selim Sadak (born 1954), Kurdish politician, MP in Turkey and Mayor of Şırnak.
- Dana Ahmed Majid (born 1957), former governor of Sulaimaniyah, Iraq.
- Abdul Karim Qassim (1958–1963), first President of Iraq.
- Osman Öcalan (born 1958), one of the founders of PKK.
- Barham Salih (born 1960), Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq. Also a senior member of Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.
- Soraya Serajeddini (1960–2006), Kurdish human rights activist, United States.
- Leyla Zana (born 1961), human-rights activist and the first Kurdish woman MP in Turkey.
- Karim Mohammedzadeh (1963-1990), assassinated political dissident, Iran.
- Roya Toloui (born 1966), Kurdish journalist and human rights activist, Iran.
- Nechervan Idris Barzani (born 1966), former Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraqi Kurdistan.
- Nadhim Zahawi, (born 1967), British Conservative politician and current MP for Stratford-on-Avon.
- Nalin Pekgul (born 1967), former member of Swedish Parliament.
- Widad Akrawi (born 1969), activist and Chair of Defend International, Iraq/Denmark.
- Amineh Kakabaveh (born 1970), Swedish Left Party politician, member of Swedish Parliament.
- Osman Baydemir (born 1971), current mayor of Diyarbakır, Turkey.
- Herro Mustafa (born 1973), diplomat, Senior Advisor on the Middle East to Vice President Biden, US.
- Houzan Mahmoud (born 1973), women rights and anti-war activist, UK.
- Feleknas Uca (born 1976), Yazidi-Kurd and MEP for the left German Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS).
- Farzad Kamangar (1978-2010), executed human rights activist, Iran.
- Ehsan Fattahian (1981-2009), executed political activist, Iran.
- Idris Barzani, (died 1987), former Prime Minister of the Kurdish Autonomous Region
- Walid Jumblatt, leader of the Progressive Socialist Party of Lebanon and leader of the Druze community.
- Derwich Ferho, chairman of Kurdish Institute Brussels
- Rowsch Shaways, former vice president of Iraq in the interim government of 2004 and Parliament speaker in the KRG.
- Mohammad Seddigh Kaboudvand, activist and journalist, Iran.
- Tamar Fattah Ramadhan Kuchar, Dahuk governor, Iraq.
Read more about this topic: List Of Kurdish People
Famous quotes containing the words politicians and, politicians and/or leaders:
“When politicians and politically minded people pay too much attention to literature, it is a bad sign—a bad sign mostly for literature.... But it is also a bad sign when they don’t want to hear the word mentioned.”
—Italo Calvino (1923–1985)
“And he gave it for his opinion, that whoever could make two ears of corn, or two blades of grass, to grow upon a spot of ground where only one grew before, would deserve better of mankind, and do more essential service to his country, than the whole race of politicians put together.”
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)
“Unless the people can choose their leaders and rulers, and can revoke their choice at intervals long enough to test their measures by results, the government will be a tyranny exercised in the interests of whatever classes or castes or mobs or cliques have this choice.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)