Former Iraqi President Jalal Talabani dies

SULAIMANIAH - Anadolu Agency

Jalal Talabani, a former president of Iraq and a Kurdish political leader, passed away on Oct. 3 at the age of 83, according to family members. 

Speaking exclusively to Anadolu Agency, family members said Talabani had died in a hospital in German capital Berlin following a long struggle with illness. 

Talabani was born on Nov. 12, 1933 in the northern Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah. 

He was elected president of post-invasion Iraq in 2005 and was re-elected for a second term in 2010. 

Talabani is also the founder of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) party, of which he had served as secretary-general.