ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Top Iraqi officials on Friday commemorated the late Iraqi President and co-founder of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) Jalal Talabani on the eighth anniversary of his passing.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani delivered a condolence message to PUK leader Bafel Talabani on the anniversary of his father’s death, according to a statement from the premier’s office.

Sudani’s message recalled “the national and struggle role of President Talabani, and his confrontation alongside national forces from various directions against dictatorship, for the freedom of Iraq and the dignity of its people.”

“President Talabani's legacy drives us to work toward consolidating the values of justice and freedom and strengthening constitutional and legal principles,” the premier stressed.

The Iraqi Presidency on Friday organized a memorial vigil at the Presidential Palace in commemoration of the late Kurdish leader.

“The memory of Mam Jalal is not merely a date that passes, but rather a continuous call to work for a unified, free, independent, and democratic Iraq,” Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid stated in a speech during the vigil, highlighting Talabani’s role in combating “dictatorship and tyranny,” not only for Kurds but all of Iraq’s components.

“We affirm that we continue on his path, carrying the banner of the nation, committed to the values he embodied throughout his life… so that his name remains immortal in our people's memory,” said Rashid, a senior PUK official.

Known affectionately as Mam Jalal (Uncle Jalal) among Kurds, Talabani dedicated most of his life to the Kurdish cause, with his decades-long career spanning from humble beginnings as a Peshmerga in the early 1960s taking up arms against the Iraqi state, to co-founding the PUK in 1975, and to reaching the zenith of his political journey in becoming the first Kurdish president of Iraq in 2005.

His tenure as Iraqi president saw the late leader seek to quash internecine political disputes and encourage political unity at a time when Iraq's different confessional groups were embroiled in a bloody civil war.

Iraqi aviation authorities recently approved a proposal to rename Sulaimani International Airport to the Jalal Talabani International Airport in honor of the late Kurdish leader.

Renaming the airport “reflects deep appreciation for the late President Jalal Talabani’s historic role and his lifelong struggle against the former dictatorial regime,” read a statement from Sudani’s office on Friday.

A fearless fighter, an astute negotiator, and a charismatic leader, Talabani is widely regarded as one of the most influential politicians in the history of the Kurdistan Region and remains a highly respected figure by all ethnic and religious communities throughout Iraq.

Mam Jalal died in Berlin, Germany, on October 3, 2017, due to complications caused by a stroke he suffered five years prior.