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16-11-2019 - Massoud Barzani, born August 16, 1946 in Mahabad, Kurdistan of Iran, is the former head of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region and leader of the Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party. He is the son of Mustafa Barzani.  
He was President of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq from 2005  until 2017. He is President of the Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party since 1979.
Barzani's family was often in exile.  
Massoud's great uncle, Sheikh Abdul Salam Barzani, was executed by the Ottoman government in 1914 after a series of combats  in Mosul.  After this, Sheikh Ahmad Barzani continued to fight and was exiled several times by the Iraqi royal government.  The combat did not end there either, and Mullah Mustafa Barzani continued the fight for freedom.
In 1945, after a series of struggles with the Iraqi government,  Barzani and his family accompanied by his peshmarga fighters entered  Kurdistan Iran to defend the Government of the Republic of Mahabad.
In this time his son, Massoud Barzani was born in Mahabad.  
After the government of the Mahabad Republic was overthrown, Mullah Mustafa was forced to flee to the Soviet Union. They had to fight their way to Russia, fighting three governments, Iran, Iraq and Turkey as they opposed the state of Mahabad. Massoud Barzani fled to Iraq with his family and was exiled to southern Iraq. His uncles and brothers were imprisoned.
In 1958, after the coup of Abdul Karim Qassim, Barzani's family was released from exile and imprisonment after 12 year. Mullah Mustafa returned to Iraqi Kurdistan, but after two years the Iraqi government failed to fulfill its promises of giving the Kurdish their rights.  
In 1961 Mustafa fought with the government for the rights of the Kurds again.  Meanwhile, Massoud Barzani, a teenager, entered the battlefield and joined the Peshmerga.  In 1979, in Vienna, an unsuccessful assassination attempt on Massoud Barzani killed a member of his party that accompanied him.  Idris Barzani (Massoud Barzani's older brother) was elected leader of the Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party in 1979 after the death of Mullah Mustafa and continued the freedom battle .
When Idris Barzani passed away, Massoud Barzani took over the party leadership. He was able to seize control of Iraqi Kurdistan in 1991.
He succeeded with the help of United Nations, threatening a no fly zone. After the battle with the central government an election was held.  With 51% of the vote, the KRG, together with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, formed the government of Iraqi Kurdistan.
Until 2017 Massoud Barzani was the elected head of the Iraqi Kurdistan region. During his presidency, he has established several institutions in the Kurdistan region to promote emerging democracy, strengthen unity and improve the decision-making process.  He established the Presidential Council in January 2007, which included the Vice President, Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Kurdistan National Assembly, the Prime Minister, and the Deputy Prime Minister and Chief of Staff of the Kurdistan Region.  
In February 2011, he was awarded the Atlantic Peace Prize by the Italian Atlantic Committee for his role in promoting peace, stability and religious tolerance in the region, during his visit, Pope Benedict XVI praised his role in helping refugees and Christians.
The Atlantic Peace Prize is awarded annually to international prominent figures who strive to promote peace and stability and to uphold the rights of religious and religious minorities annually.  
The emergence of IS and the involvement of the Iraqi Kurdistan region with the group drew the attention of the international community. In 2014 he became one of the eight final candidates for Times Magazine of the Year for fighting IS and trying to form Kurdistan.
On October 29, 2017, he issued a letter announcing that he would resign because democratically he had served the maximum term as president. By law would not be able to be reelected, so he stood down.  On November 1, 2017, his term ended.

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