rudaw.net | 23-10-2020

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Shafiq Qazzaz, intellectual and former government minister, died on Thursday night of the coronavirus. The president of the Kurdistan Region hailed Qazzaz as a man who "spent his entire life at the service of Kurdistan."

"It is with great sadness that I learned of the death of Dr. Shafiq Qazzaz, a writer, intellectual, and politician of Kurdistan," President Nechirvan Barzani said, describing him as "loyal, a pioneering intellectual, and patriot" who "dedicated his entire life and energy to serving Kurdistan, the revolution, political struggle, diplomacy, enlightenment, and academy."

Qazzaz died in Sulaimani on Thursday night, two weeks after contracting the virus.

He was the minister of Humanitarian Aid & Cooperation in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in the 1990s.

"During the [Aylul] revolution, he was a very outstanding diplomat and a very sophisticated and successful minister in the Kurdistan Regional Government," Barzani said.

The Aylul Revolution, led by Mullah Mustafa Barzani, lasted 14 years from 1961 to 1975. It broke out after negotiations between Kurds and Baghdad did not bear fruit in 1961 and the Iraqi government began a military campaign to crush Kurdish dissent. After a decade of armed struggle, the Iraqi government agreed to grant Kurds some autonomy, but it did not last long.

Family members, former colleagues, and friends of Qazzaz took to social media to express their sadness on his passing.

Choman Hardi, a university professor and sister-in-law of Qazzaz, said in a Facebook post that "his place will always be empty and will be dearly missed."

Rebin Hardi, a prominent Kurdish writer, described Qazzaz as an "an old champion."

Qazzaz also represented Kurdish interests in Europe. He founded the Kurdish Culture Center, the British-Kurdish Friendship Society, The Kurdish Academy, and Kurdish Students Organization in the United States.