Memorial service held for Gorran’s Nawshirwan Mustafa
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A memorial service for Nawshirwan Mustafa, leader of the Change Movement (Gorran) who died on May 19, was held in the city of Sulaimani, attended by hundreds of supporters and members of political parties who visited his grave at the Gorran headquarters on Zargata hill in Sulaimani.
Mustafa died at the age of 73 in Sulaimani in the morning of May 19, just a week after he returned to the Kurdistan Region from the UK where he had received medical treatment.
Some Gorran party supporters chanted "he won’t die" as they placed flowers on his tomb.
Mustafa founded Gorran in 2009. His party won 24 seats in the 2013 general elections and joined the Kurdish government in Erbil. It is currently standing in second place after the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).
Mustafa’s wife Shu’la Ali Saeed also died in March.
Mustafa and Talabani fell out in 2006 and he formed the Gorran party.
Traditionally a memorial service is held 40 days after a death. The Gorran party said that they would complete this mourning period before electing a new leader.
Mustafa died at the age of 73 in Sulaimani in the morning of May 19, just a week after he returned to the Kurdistan Region from the UK where he had received medical treatment.
Some Gorran party supporters chanted "he won’t die" as they placed flowers on his tomb.
Mustafa founded Gorran in 2009. His party won 24 seats in the 2013 general elections and joined the Kurdish government in Erbil. It is currently standing in second place after the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).
Mustafa’s wife Shu’la Ali Saeed also died in March.
He was a founding member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in 1975 along with former Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.
Mustafa and Talabani fell out in 2006 and he formed the Gorran party.
Traditionally a memorial service is held 40 days after a death. The Gorran party said that they would complete this mourning period before electing a new leader.