Patriotic Union of Kurdistan: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) or Yaketi nishtimani kurdistan in kurdish is a leftist Kurdish Iraqi opposition group led by Jalal Talabani, based in the Kurdish city of As Sulaymaniyah, near the Iranian border.

The PUK has jointly administered northern Iraq (which the Kurds call Kurdistan) with the Kurdistan Democratic Party since the Gulf War, protected by the northern Iraq No-Fly Zone. Although the Provinsonal capital of the PUK administerated zone was sulaimaniya which did not fall above the 36 parrellel and was therefore not protected by the northern no fly zone.

The PUK was founded in 1975 after the other major Kurdish party in Iraq, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), suffered a major setback after the Algiers Accord and was briefly disbanded. The PUK is a coalition of five seperate factions which united under Jalal Talabani, also known as Mam ("uncle") Jalal; the leading factions were the Komala ("group") and Shorish Geran ("revolution spreaders"). The PUK, unlike the KDP, recieved grassroot support from urban intellectual Kurds as opposed to the tribal affiliations of the kdp. Early in its history, the PUK was a Marxist/Leninist movement; however, in the present, it is a moderate left party.

The leader of the puk, Jalal Talabani was an member of the iraqi governing council before the council was disbanded. Currently the Iraqi deputy prime minister aswell as the minister of irrigation and minister of planning are all members of the Puk.