In Memoriam: Dr. Najmaldin O. Karim (1949-2020)

Washington Kurdish Institute

October 31, 20202

It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Dr. Najmaldin O. Karim, founding president of the Washington Kurdish Institute (WKI), a prominent neurosurgeon in the Washington area, the former Governor of Kirkuk, Iraq, and a tireless advocate for Kurdish rights in the Middle East. Dr. Karim passed away peacefully on Friday, October 30, 2020 surrounded by his family and loved ones.

Born in Kirkuk on August 12, 1949, Dr. Karim came to the United States in 1976 after the collapse of the Kurdish revolution in Iraq in 1975. As a medical doctor, he enrolled in the neurosurgery residency program at George Washington University (GWU) and later served as an associate clinical professor at GWU. He had a thriving neurosurgery practice in the Washington area for nearly 40 years.

Dr. Karim was widely known as an outspoken advocate for the Kurdish cause. He became a politically active Kurdish patriot at a young age, joining the Kurdish national movement when he was still in high school. After graduating from Mosul Medical School in 1972, he joined the Peshmerga forces and also served as a physician. He then devoted his life to advocating for the Kurds’ cultural and political rights, and their struggle for self-determination in the Middle East.

He played a key role in Washington advocating for the Kurdish people with the US Government, with human rights and public policy organizations. He testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Saddam Hussein’s genocidal atrocities against the civilian Kurdish population during the Anfal campaigns in the late 1980s. Working closely with other Kurdish groups, U.S. senators, and the U.S. Department of State, Dr. Karim’s efforts led to the establishment of a Kurdish language service at the Voice of America. Dr. Karim lectured at US universities on Kurdish rights and political affairs and published op-ed pieces in the Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times and The New York Times, among others. He was a founding member and president of the Kurdish National Congress of North America (1991-1999).

Dr. Karim was committed to bringing democracy and peaceful co-existence to Kirkuk, where Kurds, Arabs, Turkmans and all other ethnic and religious groups could live peacefully together. He participated in the Vienna Conference which founded the Iraqi National Congress in 1992, and was elected to its General Assembly. He later participated in the Iraqi opposition conference in London in December 2002 that opposed Iraq’s leader Saddam Hussein and was elected to the 65-member Steering Committee. He participated in the Salahaddin Conference that included the Iraqi opposition groups in February 2003, prior to the overthrow of Saddam Hussein by the US military invasion of Iraq. He then was a member of the first Baghdad conference after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in April 2003.

On March 7, 2010, Dr. Karim was elected to the Iraqi Parliament representing the Kirkuk governorate. Soon thereafter he was elected as the Governor of Kirkuk, and sworn into office on April 3, 2011. As governor, he significantly improved services for all groups in the multi-ethnic governorate. On October 16, 2017, following the holding of an Independence Referendum in Iraqi Kurdistan, the Iraqi government, supported by its military and Iranian-backed militias, forcibly removed Dr. Karim from office.
He is survived by his wife, four children, and four grandchildren.

Obituaries and condolences

Statement by Senator Chris Van Hollen

Statement by US General Consulate General- Erbil

Statement by Brett McGurg، Former Presidential Envoy

Statement by UK Parliament member Nadhim Zahawi

Washington Post: Najmaldin Karim, ‘one-man lobby’ for Kurdish interests on Capitol Hill, dies at 71

Statement by the Kurdish Institute of Paris

Tributes paid to former Kirkuk Governor Najmaldin Karim before Pirmam burial

Dr. Najmaldin Karim remembered: ‘Neurosurgeon from Maryland’ credited with bringing peace and normalcy to Kirkuk; played key role in starting US-Kurdish dialogue

Najmaldin Karim remembered as hero of Kurdish cause

Statement by the President of the Kurdistan Region Nechirvan Barzani

Kurdistan Region President delivers a speech at the reception of Dr. Najmadin Karim’s body