- Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou
Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou ( _ku. Ebdul Rehman Qasimlû), (1930-1989), was an
Iran ian Kurdish politician fromIranian Kurdistan . He was born onDecember 22 ,1930 inÛrmiyeh ,West Azarbaijan . He was the leader of theDemocratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan ("Partiya Demokrata Kurdistana Îranê" - PDKÎ) from 1973 to 1989. He was assassinated onJuly 13 ,1989 by the agents of the Islamic Republic.Fact|date=November 2007Early 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 inFrance , and pursued them inCzechoslovakia , where he met his wifeHelen Krulich . They had two daughters together, Mina (1953) and Hewa (1955).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 partyboycott ed the referendum for the newconstitution . 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.Fact|date=December 2007 Thousands of executions and massacres followed in Kurdistan, which were continued up to 1984 in the middle ofIran-Iraq war (1980-1988). During Iran-Iraq war, Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou and his party cooperated withSaddam in the war against Iran.Assassination and funerals
In 1988, after the war had ended, the Iranian government decided it was time to negotiate. Several meetings followed in
Vienna , onDecember 28 ,December 30 andJanuary 20 . Another meeting was set up forJuly 13 , again inVienna .The Iranian delegation at the
July 13 ,1988 meeting consisted of three men:Mohamed Jafar Sahraroudi ,Hadi Mustafawi andAmir 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. OnJuly 19 , the PDKÎ announced that then Deputy Secretary General,Sadegh Sharafkandi , became the new Secretary General (he was assassinated onSeptember 17 ,1992 ). Abdullah Ghaderi Azar and Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou were buried onJuly 20 inParis atPère Lachaise Cemetery .The investigation
The
Austria n government has denounced theIslamic Republic as responsible for this crime. The three Iranian representatives of that day are under a warrant for their arrest.Fact|date=December 2007 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.Fact|date=December 2007References
*Peyam, London-based Kurdish Paper, Issue Number 25-26, by Harem Jaff
External links
* [http://www.pdk-iran.org PDKÎ]
* [http://www.kurdmedia.com Kurdish Media]
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