A CLOSE FRIEND OF MESOP PASSED AWAY : Kurdish community has lost an inspiring political activist: Dr Ahmed Basira

24 Jan 2014 – Kurdistan Tribune – We are saddened by the news that Dr Ahmed Basira died recently in a tragic accident while he was on a short holiday in Mexico. Dr Ahmed was buried in Dusseldorf on 13th January 2014. Dr Ahmed was born in 1966 in the city of Suli in the south of Kurdistan and finished his first and secondary school there. In the 1980s he went to Yugoslavia to study English language and to Romania to study dentistry. He spoke five languages and became a resident of Germany, setting up his own dentistry practice in Dusseldorf.

During his student years Dr Ahmed became well known for his political activities against the Iraqi intelligence services in their operations abroad. He played a key role in organising protests and mobilising the Kurdish community. He is also well known for his support for impoverished Kurds in Germany. In one incident in 1990 he was very seriously injured while fighting with Saddam’s secret agents in Germany. He promoted the new Kurdish movement that emerged after 1975, urging the whole Kurdish community inside and outside the south of Kurdistan to support it.

The Iraqi regime deported his family from their home in Suli city to Iran.  The regime was punishing the family for activities of their son. Following this, Dr Ahmed’s mum died in a tragic accident which had a terrible impact on other members of the family. The whole south of Kurdistan is saddened by the news of Dr Ahmed’s passing. On behalf of the Kurdish community abroad we offer our sincere condolences to his brother Dr Salar Basira, a human rights activist and lecturer at the University of Suli, and to all of the family.