VANLY, ISMET CHERIFF

(1924- )

Professor Ismet Cheriff Vanly is a well-known, elderly Kurdish scholar and spokesman who was born inSyria. In the 1960s and 1970s, he worked forMulla Mustafa Barzaniin Europe andIsrael. Iraqiagents unsuccessfully attempted to assassinate him in Switzerland during the 1970s. Although he was shot through the head at almost point-blank range, Vanly somehow survived. In 1995, he was elected to the executive council of theKurdistan Parliament in Exile, and in 1999 he was chosen as the president of its successor, theKurdistan National Congress. He now lives in retirement in Switzerland.