Message of Condolence of the Central Committee of the Tudeh Party of Iran to the leadership of the Communist Party of Iraq on the occasion of the passing away of Comrade Aziz Mohammad

For the attention of Comrade Raid Fahmi

National Secretary

The Central Committee of the Iraqi Communist Party

Baghdad

Iraq.

Dear Comrade Raid Fahmi,

We received with profound sadness the communiqué of the Political Bureau of the fraternal Iraqi Communist Party informing us of the passing away of Comrade Aziz Mohammad, the veteran leader of your party and a very prominent Iraqi and Kurdish national figure.

We would like to convey the sincere and wholehearted condolences of all cadres, members and sympathisers of the Tudeh Party of Iran to your fraternal party, to the leadership of the Communist Party of Kurdistan – Iraq, to the Iraqi national and patriotic movement and to the family and friends of the late Comrade Aziz Mohammad.   

The life and struggle of the late Comrade Aziz Mohammad are well-known to us. He devoted more than seven decades of his adult life to the service of the Party and the struggle for fundamental progressive change in Iraq and in Kurdistan.  

Comrade Aziz Mohammad, was a passionate fighter for the progress and prosperity of his homeland, Iraq, and remained loyal to the cause of the Iraqi working class and the struggle for the promotion of the ideals of Marxism- Leninism.  He was arrested in 1948, at an early stage of his work for the Party, by the notorious security forces of the dictatorial monarchical regime and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. He was only released after the 14th July 1958 Revolution and the declaration of the Republic of Iraq.

The struggle of the fraternal Iraqi Communist Party during one of the most complex and turbulent chapters of Iraqi contemporary history took place under the leadership of Comrade Aziz Mohammad, who was the General Secretary of the Party from 1964 to 1993. 

The Tudeh Party of Iran knows well that Comrade Aziz Mohammed devoted his entire life, from his early youth until his last breath, to the struggle within the ranks of the Iraqi Communist Party and the Kurdistan Communist Party, for the cause of the toiling popular masses, for the freedom of the homeland and the prosperity of the people.

The life and struggle comrade Aziz Muhammad is closely and irrefutably intertwined with the proud history of the Tudeh Party of Iran.  He knew many of the leaders of our Party and was very familiar with the intricacies of its heroic struggle.   He had regular meetings to exchange experience, views and analysis with the leadership of the Tudeh Party of Iran.  He was of the view that, due to the similarity of the people’s struggles in the two neighboring countries which shared long histories, it is important that the two fraternal parties worked closely together and exchanged views and experiences. The fact that our two parties have enjoyed such close fraternal relations is no doubt to a great extent a valued legacy of Comrade Aziz Mohammad.   

The memory of Comrade Aziz Mohammed will live forever in the hearts of all communists, democrats and patriots in Iraq, Iran and across the whole Middle East for his contributions to the cause of peace, progress and internationalism.

Once again please accept the condolences of the Tudeh Party of Iran on the passing away of Comrade Aziz Mohammad.  We are certain that the noble ideals of our late comrade will live forever.

We would like to take this opportunity to express our solidarity with the struggle of the Iraqi Communist Party and the people of Iraq for a peaceful, sovereign, unified, secular and democratic future in Iraq.

With comradely greetings

The Central Committee of the Tudeh Party of Iran

June 3rd 2017