Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou
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Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou (Kurdish: Ebdul Rehman Qasimlû), (1930-1989), was an Iranian Kurdish politician from Iranian Kurdistan. He was born on December 22, 1930 in Ûrmiyeh, West Azarbaijan, to father Mohammad Vossough from Urmia and mother Leila Kowkabi from Piranshahr. He was the leader of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (Partiya Demokrata Kurdistana Îranê - PDKÎ) from 1973 to 1989. He was assassinated on July 13, 1989 by the Iranian authorities.[citation needed]
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[edit] Early and private life
Born in a relatively wealthy family of the Kurdish countryside, Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou was instructed in a Quranic school. He started his university studies in France, and pursued them in Czechoslovakia, where he met his wife Helen Krulich. They had two daughters together, Mina (1953) and Hewa (1955).
[edit] Political life
Ghassemlou went back to Kurdistan in 1952, after completing his studies. He then spent several years as an active militant in the Kurdish political field. In 1973, during the Third Congress of the PDKÎ, he was elected to the position of Secretary General of the party, a position to which he was reelected several times until his assassination.
In 1979, his party supported the revolution which ended in the fall of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi. However, the party boycotted the referendum for the new constitution. This was the start of confrontation of the party and the new regime, which ended in a military oppression of the party by the central government. Ayatollah Khomeini declared a "holy war" on the Kurds.[citation needed] Thousands of executions and massacres followed in Kurdistan, which were continued up to 1984 in the middle of Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988). During Iran-Iraq war, Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou and his party cooperated with Saddam in the war against Iran.
[edit] Assassination and funerals
In 1988, after the war had ended, the Iranian government decided it was time to negotiate. Several meetings followed in Vienna, on December 28, December 30 and January 20. Another meeting was set up for July 13, again in Vienna.
The Iranian delegation at the July 13, 1988 meeting consisted of three men: Mohamed Jafar Sahraroudi, Hadi Mustafawi and Amir Mansur Bozorgian. The Kurdish delegation also comprised three people: Abdullah Ghaderi Azar, Fadhil Rassul and Dr.Ghassemlou. All three of them were killed that day. The three Iranian perpetrators were allowed to walk free. On July 19, the PDKÎ announced that then Deputy Secretary General, Sadegh Sharafkandi, became the new Secretary General (he was assassinated on September 17, 1992). Abdullah Ghaderi Azar and Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou were buried on July 20 in Paris at Père Lachaise Cemetery.
[edit] The investigation
The Austrian government has denounced the Islamic Republic as responsible for this crime. The three Iranian representatives of that day are under a warrant for their arrest.[citation needed] So far they have not been arrested. It has also been rumored that current President of the Islamic republic of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was involved in the assassinations.[citation needed]
[edit] References
- Peyam, London-based Kurdish Paper, Issue Number 25-26, by Harem Jaff
