Qazi Muhammad was a renowned Kurdish leader who founded the first independent Kurdish state, the Republic of Mahabad, based in the city of Mahabad in present-day Iran in 1946.

The Mahabad Republic, founded by Qazi Muhammad, survived only with support from the Soviet Union and military assistance from Iraqi Kurdish leader Mustafa Barzani out of Iraq.

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Ali Qazi Muhammad, the son of the great Kurdish leader Qazi Muhammad, passed away early Sunday in Germany after a battle with illness.