ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Syrian security forces have seized the keys to Iraq’s late president Jalal Talabani’s apartment in Damascus, believing that it was gifted to him by the recently-toppled Bashar al-Assad’s regime, an Iraqi official said on Monday.
Some social media accounts recently reported that Talabani’s apartment was raided and the interior was turned into a mess by the Syrian security forces.
Iraqi and Syrian officials told Rudaw that the apartment was not harmed.
“Syrian forces entered Jalal Talabani’s house and took the keys to the apartment, believing it was given to him by the former Syrian regime,” said Shorish Khalid Saeed, Iraqi deputy foreign minister.
The ministry has sent a letter to its Syrian counterpart, informing them that Talabani’s family had bought the apartment long ago, the Iraqi official added.
“We are in contact with them to get the keys to the apartment back,” said Saeed, adding that the residence was left untouched.
Syria’s interior ministry told Rudaw that the apartment was not attacked, noting that no harm was brought to it.
A coalition of rebel groups, spearheaded by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), ousted Assad on December 8, days after launching a surprise offensive.
Talabani bought the apartment in 1974. It was used for many political meetings, up until the late 1970s.
The Kurdish politician, also known as Mam Jalal, joined the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in 1947 at age 14 and served as a politician, Peshmerga, and journalist. He left the KDP in 1975 to establish the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
Talabani was the founder and leader of the PUK before his death in October 2017.
After the fall of the Saddam regime in 2003, Talabani became the first Kurdish president of Iraq two years later. He was instrumental in drafting the Iraqi constitution following the collapse of the Baath regime and served as Iraq’s first non-Arab president.
In December 2012, Talabani suffered a stroke. He remained in a Berlin hospital for several years. He died at 83.
