Kemal Ketuly

Dr. Kamal Aziz Ketuly, born in Baghdad, he obtained BSc in Chemistry at the University of Baghdad in 1976.  He came to Glasgow University in 1976 to study as a private student and obtained M.Appl.Sc. in 1978 and PhD in Chemistry in 1982. He worked at Glasgow University as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow until 1991.  He worked as a Scientific Consultant in UK.  In 1997- 2002 he worked in University of Malaya as an Associate Professor of Chemistry. He re-joined University of Malaya in March 2009- Feb. 2012. Then he joined University of Duhok – College of Medicine-Department of Medical chemistry in March 2012 to present. During his academic and scientific career he has published several scientific papers.

He was appointed by the Kurdistan Regional Government-Iraq as their representative for the Far East mission based in Malaysia, from Nov. 2003 – 2007. He was able to introduce and build bi-lateral relationships with many Governments of the Far East (including China and Japan) in political, economic, scientific and cultural relationships.

He became actively involved in public campaigns to expose the atrocities of the Saddam’s Ba’athist regime and highlight the plight of the Kurdish nation and the oppressed Iraqi people in the Middle East.  These campaigns actively began after the deportation of his own family along with tens of thousands of families by the Saddam regime from Iraq to Iran on 7thApril 1980-1989, which involved the confiscation of the properties of thousands of Kurds and other Iraqi citizens and the detention of his brother Jamal and eleven of his immediate cousins who were among an estimated 4,000 taken as hostages.  After the collapse of Saddam Hussein’s regime the fate of Jamal and the rest of these hostages and their whereabouts is still unknown to date.

He established the Friends of Kurdistan Society – Scotland in 1983 to campaign publicly and highlight the above issues.  By 1990 Friends of Kurdistan Society was able to expose and officially close all Organisations operating as a front for Saddam’s Ba’athist Regime within the Universities and Educational Establishments in UK. These campaigns were successful with the support of many British Political Organisations, Trade Unions (STUC), Student Unions, churches and NGO’s.

He delivered lectures, seminars and also took part in discussions with international, political and humanitarian groups in the UK and in Europe. In addition to many radio, television and newspaper interviews and publications regarding Kurdish, Iraqi and middle East politics, human rights and refugees.