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Abdul Rahman Haji Ahmadi

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Abdul Rahman Haji Ahmadi
Other nameHaji Ahmadi
Born(1941-01-01)1 January 1941
Iran
Died18 March 2025(2025-03-18) (aged 84)
Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Allegiance
OrganizationKurdistan Free Life Party
Active years2004–2011
Rank
CommandsPJAK operations
Known forLeadership of PJAK
Key conflicts
Other workExecutive Council member of the Kurdistan National Congress
WebsitePJAK official website

Abdul Rahman Haji Ahmadi (Persian: عبدالرحمن حاجی‌احمدی; 1 January 1941 – 18 March 2025), commonly known as Haji Ahmadi (Hacî Ehmedî), was an Iranian Kurdish political and military leader who led the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), designated as a terrorist organization by the United States,[1] Iran and Turkey,[a] in its campaign against the Iranian government for the creation of an autonomous Kurdish region inside Iran from 2004. He was also a leader for the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) during the Kurdish rebellion in Iran from 1979, and an executive council member of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) after 1999.

Biography

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Haji Ahmadi was born in the Imperial State of Iran on 1 January 1941.[2] He hailed from the village of Kara Kasap in the district of Naqadeh in the West Azerbaijan province.[3]

Haji Ahmadi trained as an agricultural engineer.[2] From 1964, he studied in Germany, where he joined the Kurdish Students Society in Europe (KSSE), and in Czechoslovakia, where he met Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou, the secretary-general of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI).[4][5] He then became a member of the PDKI, serving as one of the leaders of the 1979 Kurdish rebellion in Iran and subsequently as a foreign affairs advisor for the party in Europe.[4][5]

Haji Ahmadi was a deputy for the Kurdistan Parliament in Exile [fr] (Parlamena Kurdistanê li Derveyî Welêt), which met from 1995 to 2000. He was involved in the Preparatory Committee of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) and acted as one of its founding members in 1999. Having served on KNK's Executive Council, he remained active in the organization until his death.[4][5][6]

Haji Ahmadi was also a member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).[7] At the founding congress of the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) in 2004, he was elected its general chairman.[4][5][3] He was said to have coordinated the activities of the PJAK from his exile in Germany between visits to inspect the troops in Iranian Kurdistan.[2][7] He shared his leadership duties with the female co-chair Evindar Renas.[8]

In the summer of 2007, he visited Washington but, according to the United States government sources, failed to meet with any officials.[9] He had obtained German citizenship by 2008 and resided in Cologne.[2]

In March 2010, Haji Ahmadi was arrested at his residence in Germany by German authorities but was released shortly afterwards. The German government gave no details regarding why he was arrested or released.[10] Before his release, the Iranian government had asked Germany to extradite Haji Ahmadi to Iran. However, Germany refused this request on the grounds that he was a German citizen.[10] In response, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told a news conference in Tehran that the decision to free Haji Ahmadi amounted to "practically supporting terrorism", and that "Europe ha[d] become a haven for terrorists."[10]

In 2014, Haji Ahmadi participated in a commemoration of the Armenian genocide held in Brussels, alongside Remzi Kartal, the president of Kongra-Gel.[11]

In 2022, he was involved in the protests over the death of Mahsa Amini (Jîna Emînî) in Iran.[4][5]

Ahmadi died in Cologne on 18 March 2025, at the age of 84, having lived in Germany for 40 years.[6]

Notes

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  1. ^ The United Nations, the European Union, Russia and many other countries refused to designate PJAK as a terrorist organization.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b "U.S. lists anti-Iran Kurdish PJAK as terrorist organization". ekurd.net. Archived from the original on 23 June 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d Buchen, Stefan; Goetz, John; Röbel, Sven (14 April 2008). "Germany Concerned About PJAK Activities". Der Spiegel. Archived from the original on 20 October 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  3. ^ a b Kanadıkırık, Halil; Mohammadi Ghanbarlou, Raheb (2021), "The Organizations Categorized as Terrorist in 21st Century Iran and Security Policies", in Hasan Acar; Halil Emre Deniş (eds.), Security Issues in the Context of Political Violence and Terrorism of the 21st Century, Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, p. 97
  4. ^ a b c d e "'Wefata Hacî Ehmedî ji bo şoreşa Kurdistanê windahiyeke mezin e'". ANF News (in Northern Kurdish). 19 March 2025. Archived from the original on 1 March 2026. Retrieved 1 March 2026.
  5. ^ a b c d e "ک‌ن‌ک: درگذشت حاجی احمدی برای انقلاب کوردستان ضایعه‌ای بزرگ است". ANF News (in Persian). 19 March 2025. Archived from the original on 30 September 2025. Retrieved 1 March 2026.
  6. ^ a b "عبدالرحمان حاجی احمدی، از بنیانگذاران پژاک، درگذشت". ANF News (in Persian). 18 March 2025. Archived from the original on 19 March 2025. Retrieved 1 March 2026.
  7. ^ a b Gunter, Michael (2020), "Iran's Forgotten Kurds", Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, 43 (2): 64, doi:10.1353/jsa.2020.0009
  8. ^ Bengio, Ofra (2017), The Kurds in a Volatile Middle East (PDF), Ramat Gan: Begin–Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, p. 36
  9. ^ Renard, Thomas (15 May 2008), "PJAK in Northern Iraq: Tangled Interests and Proxy Wars", Terrorism Monitor: Middle East, 6 (10), archived from the original on 1 March 2026, retrieved 1 March 2026
  10. ^ a b c Germany Rejects Iran Extradition Request, Radio Free Europe, 9 March 2010.
  11. ^ Galip, Özlem Belçim (2016), "The Politics of Remembering: Representation of the Armenian Genocide in Kurdish Novels", Holocaust and Genocide Studies, 30 (3): 467, doi:10.1093/hgs/dcw063
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