Body of historical Iranian Kurdish leader’s son to be buried in Mahabad

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iran has agreed to allow the body of Ali Qazi, the only son of the historical Kurdish leader Qazi Mohammad of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, to be buried in Mahabad, Erbil Governor Omid Khoshnaw told Kurdistan 24 on Thursday. 

Ali Qazi’s body will arrive on Monday at 9 am and will be sent to Mahabad in a ceremony, the governor said.

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani brought Qazi’s body from Germany to Erbil. 

Qazi, 89, passed away in Bonn, Germany, last Saturday due to heart disease. 

Many Kurdish leaders from different political parties have sent their condolences, including Prime Minister Barzani, President of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) Masoud Barzani, and Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani.

Ali Qazi was born in 1933 in Mahabad, Iranian Kurdistan. He was 13 years old when the short-lived Kurdistan Republic of Mahabad, established by his father in 1945, collapsed in 1946.

In 1946, shortly before Iran seized Mahabad and dismantled the Kurdish republic, Qazi Muhammad handed over the Kurdish flag to Kurdish leader Mullah Mustafa Barzani. 

Read More: The exodus of Mustafa Barzani and his companions to the Soviet Union kept Kurdish freedom alive

He was hanged in 1947 after the Iranian army took over Mahabad.

Ali Qazi later moved to Germany and settled there. 

In 1991, he came to Iraqi Kurdistan and established the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK).

However, he later resigned due to illness and returned to Germany. 

Read More: PAK leader: Kurds only have one problem

Under the leadership of Hussein Yazdanpanah, PAK played an important role in the fight against ISIS.

Ali Qazi passed away on July 10.