The University of Sulaimani, founded in Sulaymaniyah on October 23, 1968 pursuant to the Act No. 143 of 1968, is the oldest public university in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Its foundation was decided after negotiations between Kurdish delegates from Kurdish political leadership and officials in the Iraqi government of the time. On April 24, 1974, the University of Sulaimani’s campus in Qaladiza was bombed, and as a result a number of students were martyred.
To punish Sulaymaniyah’s courageous people for their constant strife against the Ba’ath Regime’s unjust rule, the University of Sulaimani was moved to Erbil by force in 1981 and its name was changed to Salahaddin University-Erbil.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) reopened the University of Sulaimani in Sulaymaniyah on October 31, 1992, and it opened its doors for students in November of the same year. A high committee supervised the reopening of the university, and Prof. Dr. Kamal Mohammed Saeed became the first president and chaired the university at the time.
