Abdul Rahman Qasimlo

Abdul Rahman Qasimlo was born near Urmia in Iranian Kurdistan and became the most influential Kurdish leader of the late 20th century. Raised in a prominent family and educated at the Sorbonne in Paris, he combined academic brilliance with a lifelong devotion to the Kurdish people, joining the youth wing of the PDKI at the age of just fifteen.

After years of clandestine struggle, Qasimlo was elected Secretary-General of the PDKI in 1971. When the 1979 Iranian Revolution opened a window of opportunity, he emerged as the principal spokesman and leader of Iranian Kurdistan, advocating autonomy for Kurds and democracy for Iran, and leading a long and bitter armed and political struggle against the new regime.

Qasimlo was a scholar as much as a statesman, championing social-democratic ideas within a national liberation movement and representing the Kurdish cause on the international stage. On 13 July 1989, while attending peace negotiations in Vienna, he was assassinated in his room by agents of the Iranian government. His murder horrified the world but could not dim his legacy - that of a modern, principled leader who gave the Kurdish struggle its most articulate and respected voice.