Editing Tariq Aziz (section)

== Early life and education ==
Aziz was born on 28 April 1936, in the village of [[Tel Keppe]] in the [[Nineveh Plains]], northern Iraq,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ankawa.com/forum/index.php?topic=210552.0;wap2 |title=معاهدة جبر- بيفن صنعته سياسيًا ووجد في البعث ضالته! طارق عزيز رجل الدبلوماسية والنظارات السميكة وال|publisher=Ankawa|access-date=17 August 2012}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=June 2020}} to an [[Assyrians in Iraq|Iraqi Assyrian]] family. He and his family were of the [[Chaldean Catholic Church]]. There are claims he was born Mikhail or Michael Yuhanna ({{langx|syr|ܡܝܟܐܝܠ ܝܘܚܢܢ}} {{langx|ar|ميخائيل يوحنا}}) and later changed his name to Tariq Aziz (which denotes "glorious past") to gain acceptance by the Arab and Muslim majority.<ref name="Mockaitis">{{cite book |last1=Mockaitis |first1=Thomas |url= |title=The Iraq War encyclopedia |date=2013 |publisher=ABC CLIO |pages=36}}</ref> However, this was denied by his son.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dazJt-LYXs |title=#السطر_الأوسط {{!}} زياد طارق عزيز: الإيرانيون حاولوا تغيير اسم والدي للتصغير من قيمته |language=en |access-date=2024-05-07 |via=www.youtube.com}}</ref>

He studied English at the [[Baghdad University|University of Baghdad]] and later worked as a journalist, before joining the [[Ba'ath]] Party in 1957. During the 1950s, when Iraq was under the monarchical rule, Aziz along with other Ba'athists opposed the government.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Aziz, Tariq {{!}} Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/defense/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/aziz-tariq |access-date=2025-01-01 |website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref>