Renowned Fayli Kurdish Singer dies in Copenhagen
Shafaq News/ Kawkab Hamzeh, a renowned Fayli Kurdish singer and composer known for his politically charged songs and activism, passed away on Wednesday in a Copenhagen hospital.
Hamzeh was born in the city of al-Qasim, Iraq, in 1942. He joined the Communist Party in his youth and became a vocal critic of the authoritarian regime of Saddam Hussein. In 1980, he joined the Kurdish peshmerga forces in their battle against Hussein's government. After facing persecution and threats to his life, Hamzeh was forced to leave Iraq and lived in exile in Syria and later Denmark.
Throughout his career, he composed and performed numerous songs that became anthems for the Kurdish people and the Iraqi opposition movement. His most famous songs include "Ya Najma" (Oh Star) and "Ya Tayer al-Tayyarah" (Oh Flying Bird), which became popular in the 1970s and continue to be sung today.
