36th Anniversary of the Assassination of Kurdish Leader Dr. Abdul Rahman Qasimlo

ARK News.. Today, Sunday, July 13, 2025, marks the 36th anniversary of the assassination of the Kurdish leader Dr. Abdul Rahman Qasimlo, head of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), who was killed in Vienna, Austria, along with two of his colleagues by Iranian intelligence operatives.

Brief Biography:

Abdul Rahman Qasimlo (1930–1989) was one of the most prominent Kurdish leaders in Eastern Kurdistan (Iran) during the second half of the 20th century and a leading Kurdish intellectual who championed his people's rights.

He was born in Qasimlo Valley near the city of Urmia (formerly Rezaiyeh), and pursued his education in Tehran, Iraq, and Istanbul. With the help of the martyred Kurdish writer Musa Antar, he moved to Europe to complete his higher education, ultimately earning a doctorate in Czechoslovakia.

His political activism began in 1945 when he helped found the Union of Democratic Youth in Kurdistan. In 1947, he went to France to continue his studies and participated in numerous demonstrations organized by the National Front, strongly supporting the ideas and policies of Mohammad Mossadaq.

In the early 1950s, during the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan’s second congress, a new central committee and executive committee were formed, with Abdul Rahman Qasimlo becoming head of the central committee.

In his essay “Kurdistan of Iran,” published in the book A People Without a Homeland, Qasimlo wrote:
“Kurdistan became a militarized zone compared to other Iranian cities... it was ruled by the army and police, especially the SAVAK. Popular movements suffered immensely, with security forces tracking the movements of Kurdish activists from village to village.”

The party’s fourth congress, held in June 1971 under Qasimlo’s leadership after his release from one of Tehran’s prisons, was supported by the Toda Party, which provided material and military assistance. This strengthened ties between the two parties, which shared goals such as overthrowing the Shah and advancing the cause of Iran’s working class.

Qasimlo was also an academic, serving as a lecturer at Charles University in Prague before moving to France to teach Kurdish language and history at the Sorbonne.

In late 1978, he returned to Eastern Kurdistan to establish party branches and, during the upheaval of the Iranian Revolution, his comrades gained control over Kurdish regions.

Dr. Abdul Rahman Qasimlo was assassinated in Vienna on July 13, 1989, along with two of his colleagues, by agents of Iranian intelligence.

Keywords:
Abdul Rahman Qasimlo, PDKI , Iran, Kurdish Leader, Assassination, Vienna, Iranian Intelligence

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