Kurdish Leaders remember Leyla Qasim: Kurdish freedom icon
Shafaq News/ Head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party Masoud Barzani and Kurdish President Nechirvan Barzani commemorated on Monday the anniversary of the execution of Feyli Kurdish activist Leyla Qasim, describing her as a free and courageous woman who stood against injustice.
Kurdish Leader Barzani said in a statement that Leila Qasim stands as “a shining example of the bravery of Kurdish women and a timeless symbol of Kurdish human freedom.”
لەیلا قاسم نموونەی قارەمانێتیی کچی کورد و سیمبوڵی ئازادیخوازیی مرۆڤی کوردە. ئەو بە ڕووی ستەمکاراندا هاتەوە و پشتی کردە ژیان و شەهید بوو بەڵام بندەستی قبووڵ نەکرد. لە پەنجا و یەکەمین ساڵیادی لەسێدارەدان و شەهیدکردنی لەیلا قاسم و هاوڕێکانی هەزاران سڵاو بۆ ڕۆحی پاکیان و بۆ ڕۆحی…
— Masoud Barzani (@masoud_barzani) May 12, 2025
In Turn, President Barzani wrote on X, “On the anniversary of the execution of martyr Leyla Qasim and her comrades, we solemnly and without hesitation remember her bravery and sacrifice for the freedom of Kurdistan and the dignity of its people.”
He considered her a symbol of the free Kurdish woman’s will and a voice of resistance against oppression.
له يادى له‌سێداره‌دانى شه‌هيد له‌يلا قاسم و هه‌ڤاڵانيدا، به ڕێزه‌وه بوێرى و چاونه‌ترسيى ئه‌و و قوربانيدانى له‌پێناو ئازاديى كوردستان و شكۆمه‌نديى گه‌له‌كه‌يدا، به‌بيرده‌هێنينه‌وه. ئه‌و سيمبۆلى ئيراده‌ى ئافره‌تى كوردى ئازاد و ده‌نگێكى نه‌به‌ردانه‌ى دژى سته‌م بوو كه هه‌رگيز…
— Nechirvan Barzani (@IKRPresident) May 12, 2025
On Saturday evening, the Feyli Kurdish community marked the 51st anniversary of Qasim’s execution in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region.
Leyla Qasim was a Feyli Kurdish political activist born in Khanaqin on January 27, 1952. She joined the Kurdistan Democratic Party in the early 1970s and began her university studies in sociology at the University of Baghdad in 1971. She was arrested by the Iraqi government on April 29, 1974, and executed on May 12 of the same year.
