President Barzani mourns death of US senator Graham
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Sunday said he was "deeply saddened" by the passing of US Senator Lindsey Graham, calling the veteran Republican lawmaker "a valued friend of the people of Kurdistan."
"His advocacy and unwavering support for Kurdistan will always be remembered with gratitude," Barzani wrote on X, extending his "heartfelt condolences" to "his family, friends, and colleagues."
Graham's office announced his death early Sunday, saying he passed away due to "a brief and sudden illness."
US President Donald Trump also paid tribute, describing Graham as "one of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known."
"He was always working, and was a true American Patriot. Lindsey will be greatly missed!!!" Trump added.
Graham, 71, began his political career in 1992 with his election to the South Carolina House of Representatives. Two years later, he won a seat in the US House of Representatives, before moving to the Senate in 2002, where he served until his death.
He also had a 33-year military career, retiring as a Colonel in 2015.
A staunch Trump ally, Graham nonetheless broke ranks on occasion over foreign policy - particularly on issues concerning the Kurds.
He was instrumental in convincing Trump to keep a residual US troop presence in Syria in 2019, when Turkey and allied forces launched an offensive aimed at dismantling the Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria (Rojava). Graham pushed back hard against the withdrawal, helping shield core Kurdish areas from wider destruction.
More recently, when clashes in January between the interim Syrian government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) threatened the SDF's survival, Graham and Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal introduced the Save the Kurds Act.
He warned Damascus of "Caesar Act sanctions on steroids," along with reimposed sanctions and restored terrorist designations for Syrian leaders, should attacks on Rojava continue.
Graham at the time explicitly warned foreign powers and the new Syrian government that any nation or faction believing it was "open season on the Kurds" without repercussions from the United States would be "sadly mistaken.”
The American-Kurdish Advocacy organization, which represents the Kurdish diaspora in the US, in late March honored Graham for his longstanding lobbying support to the Kurds and their political cause.
Graham visited the Kurdistan Region several times, including in 2010 and 2018. In 2022, he led a high-level US delegation to Erbil, meeting with President Barzani for talks centered on the threat of an Islamic State (ISIS) resurgence, Erbil-Baghdad relations, and the security situation facing Kurds in Syria.
