Remembering Kurdish Heroine Leyla Qasim

PUKMEDIA

Leyla Qasim.

Today, 12 May 2026, marks the anniversary of the martyrdom of Leyla Qasim and her comrades.

The legendary Kurdish heroine Leyla Qasim was born in the town of Khanaqin on 27 December 1952 into a Kurdish family. Her father worked at the Khanaqin oil refinery.

She began her education in 1958 at Khanaqin Primary School and continued her studies in her hometown until completing intermediate school. After her father’s retirement, the family moved to Baghdad. Despite financial hardship, the family remained deeply committed to education, and Leyla excelled academically.

Leyla Qasim combined the struggle for Kurdish rights with the women’s rights movement, believing that women could stand alongside men as equal partners in the struggle for freedom. She became one of the most active student figures of her generation.

In 1971, she enrolled in the Department of Sociology at the University of Baghdad’s College of Humanities. Alongside a group of fellow activists, she began carrying out activities against the oppressive Ba’ath regime. However, the group was soon arrested.

On 29 April 1974, Leyla Qasim, her fiancé, and several of her comrades were detained and publicly displayed on television. Despite the pressure, she remained steadfast in her beliefs. She and her companions were subjected to what many described as a sham trial, the outcome of which had already been decided: execution.

Before her execution, Leyla declared: “I am happy because my death will awaken thousands to follow the same path, and our people will gain their freedom.”

On 12 May 1974, less than two weeks after her arrest, Leyla and her comrades were executed by hanging. She subsequently became a lasting symbol of resistance and sacrifice in Kurdish history.

Leyla is regarded as one of the first Kurdish women activists in the Middle East to be executed by hanging. The crime committed against the young Kurdish activist remains deeply etched in collective memory and Kurdish history.

The execution of Leyla and her comrades will remain a stain on the conscience of the fascist regime that killed more than two hundred thousand Kurds whose only “crime” was demanding their right to live in freedom and dignity.

Leyla was known for her sharp intellect, political awareness, patriotic spirit, and active involvement in political, social, and cultural affairs. Her martyrdom became a source of inspiration for intellectuals, writers, poets, artists, and generations of Kurdish women and men striving for freedom and dignity.

Following her execution, many families across Kurdistan named their newborn daughters Leyla in her honour.

Leyla often told her comrades: “Kurdish heroes must continue the arduous struggle so that life may continue alongside martyrdom.”



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