Who Is Iraq's 'Person of the Year' For 2015?

She rarely appears in the media or on public occasions. However it is clear that nothing can change in Iraqi Kurdistan and, in particular, in areas where the PUK holds sway, without her approval. Her son, Qubad Talabani, is currently Iraqi Kurdistan's Deputy Prime Minister and she is the liaison between her party, the PUK, and Baghdad.

Nawshirwan Mustafa

Currently Nawshirwan Mustafa, who heads the Iraqi Kurdish opposition party known as the Change movement, is one of the most influential people in the Iraqi Kurdish region. This is not a new thing; Mustafa has been this influential for the past six years too. His friends and his enemies say that, like any great statesman, he is capable of pulling strings delicately. They also say that he has the power to calm any dangerous situation in Iraqi Kurdistan, as well as to provoke tensions.

While his party – a breakaway from the PUK that campaigned on an anti-corruption platform – was in opposition it was able to make significant changes to Iraqi Kurdistan's political life, a life that had previously been characterized by a two-party system where the PUK and the Kurdistan Democratic Party, or KDP, shared power. When the Change movement took part in a broad-based, power-sharing government this year, it continued to make a big difference. After October's political stoush that saw the Change movement kicked out of this power-sharing government, it once again became a major and very important opposition force.

Massoud Barzani

Massoud Barzani heads the most influential and popular political party in Iraqi Kurdistan, the Kurdistan Democratic Party, or KDP. Although Barzani's term as President of Iraqi Kurdistan officially ended on August 19, 2015, this titan of Kurdish politics has remained influential and in power. Due to the absence of his former, equally significant sparring partner, Jalal Talabani, Barzani has become the pre-eminent political personality in Iraqi Kurdish politics.

The security crisis, which has seen Iraqi Kurdish troops fighting against the IS group around their region, has also seen Barzani's profile, whose image tends toward the military, rise even further.