Hikmat Sulayman was prime minister of Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

 from October 30, 1936 to August 12, 1937 at the head of a Party of National Brotherhood

Party of National Brotherhood

The Party of National Brotherhood was an Iraqi political party formed in 1931 by Rashid Ali al-Gaylani. A strongly nationalist party, it became associated with opposition to the British Empire....

 government. Sulayman, an ethnic Turkmen

Turkmen people

The Turkmen are a Turkic people located primarily in the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and northeastern Iran. They speak the Turkmen language, which is classified as a part of the Western Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages family together with Turkish, Azerbaijani, Qashqai,...

, was a key figure in the early days of Iraqi independence and the effort to create a multi-ethnic state. He came to power in Bakr Sidqi

Bakr Sidqi

Bakr Sidqi , an Iraqi nationalist and general of Kurdish origin, but not a Kurdish nationalist, was born 1890 in Kirkuk and assassinated on August 12, 1937, at Mosul.-Biography:...

's coup, the first that the country experienced. His position was confirmed by king Ghazi

Ghazi of Iraq

Ghazi bin Faisal was the King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq from 1933 to 1939 having been briefly Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Syria in 1920...

.

Together with Sidqi, an ethnic Kurd

Kürd

Kürd or Kyurd or Kyurt may refer to:*Kürd Eldarbəyli, Azerbaijan*Kürd Mahrızlı, Azerbaijan*Kürd, Goychay, Azerbaijan*Kürd, Jalilabad, Azerbaijan*Kürd, Qabala, Azerbaijan*Qurdbayram, Azerbaijan...

, Sulayman veered away from the pan-Arab

Pan-Arabism

Pan-Arabism is an ideology espousing the unification--or, sometimes, close cooperation and solidarity against perceived enemies of the Arabs--of the countries of the Arab world, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Sea. It is closely connected to Arab nationalism, which asserts that the Arabs...

 nationalism

Nationalism

Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...

 of the preceding Iraqi governments. Together with Sidqi, he forged an alliance with Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

 and settled the border dispute with Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

, two countries he regarded as potential allies in the struggle against Arab

Arab

Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...

 nationalist sentiment. Nevertheless, he differed with Sidqi over the emphases of the new government, preferring to address social issues in the country, while Sidqi focused on military affairs and expanding Iraq's borders.

Sulayman was forced to resign following Sidqi's assassination in 1937.