The life and struggle of the Peshmerga Muhammad Ali Khoja, one of the founders of the Kurdistan Democratic Party - Syria

ARK News… Today, February 9, 2024, marks the fifty-eighth anniversary of the death of freedom fighter Muhammad Ali Khoja, nicknamed Mamosta Camil.

About his struggle:
Muhammad Ali Khoja is one of the founders of the first Kurdish political organization (the Kurdistan Democratic Party - Syria) and the current PDK-S. He was born in 1916 and comes from the Mabata district of the city of Afrin in Syrian Kurdistan.

He studied at the orphanage school and obtained high school from the aforementioned school. In 1948, he worked as a teacher in the primary school in Aleppo, and in 1950 AD. He became financial director at the Encyclopedia and continued his work until 1957.

Establishing the first Kurdish party
The freedom fighter Muhammad Ali Khoja was a member of the “Xuyabûn” Association and was among those who joined the organization - Ansar al-Salam. In 1957, he participated with some of his comrades in establishing the Kurdistan Democratic Party - Syria. In his home, the formation of the Kurdistan Democratic Party - Syria was announced.

Khoja as commander of the Peshmerga in Zakho

Two years after the founding of the party, and under the pressure exerted by the unity government between Syria and Egypt on the parties and its persecution of them, he was forced to leave the country with some of his companions (Khalil Muhammad and Cigerxwin) to the Kurdistan Region, and there he joined the ranks of the Peshmerga - and became the commander of the Zakho force sector.

Zakho liberation

The Zakho organization, headed by Muhammad Ali Khoja (known as “Mamosta” Jamil), had a prominent and influential role in mobilizing the masses for the Kurdish revolution in Iraqi Kurdistan, and is credited with liberating the city of Zakho on September 10, 1961. The fighter Muhammad Ali Khoja was leading about 500 Peshmerga in the Zakho region. He wanders around its villages to mobilize its residents for revolution. He was perhaps the only one among the founding leaders of the Kurdistan Democratic Party - Syria, who practiced military struggle alongside his work in political struggle.

He was arrested and subjected to severe torture
In 1965, the freedom fighter Muhammad Ali Khoja was arrested by the Syrian security forces after his return from the Kurdistan Region. He was subjected to severe torture until he contracted several diseases. He was transferred to Ibn al-Nafis Hospital in Damascus while he was at the gates of farewell until he passed away in the hospital, leaving behind Six boys.

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