Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr
On 17 July 1968, the Ba'ath Party, with the support of the Armed Forces, overthrew Rahman Arif in a coup and exiled him to Turkey. Ba'athist leader Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr was declared new President of Iraq; al-Bakr banned the Arab Socialist Union and declared the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party the only legal party of the country, starting the rule of Ba'ath in Iraq.