Erbil governor Firsat Sofi laid to rest in Erbil

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The body of the late Erbil governor Firsat Sofi returned to Erbil from Ankara on Thursday before being buried in the city’s Sheikh Ahmad cemetery.

Sofi’s body was welcomed back to Erbil in a ceremony attended by the Kurdistan Region President, Deputy Prime Minister, Speaker of the Parliament, and family and friends at Erbil International Airport. 

Sofi, 42, contracted COVID-19 on October 19 and was flown to Turkey to receive intensive care in the capital’s Memorial hospital on November 2. He died in the early hours of Wednesday morning. 

During the ceremony, President Nechirvan Barzani paid tribute to Sofi’s legacy.

“The name of Dr. Firsat Sofi will always remain in everyone’s minds for his brilliance and hardworking nature,” he said.

Government officials paid their respects at the airport by placing flowers on the coffin.

Sofi’s body was later taken to Erbil’s Sheikh Ahmad cemetery, where hundreds of people waited to say their farewells.

The late governor was born in 1978 in Erbil province’s town of Choman and held a PhD in International Law from Salahaddin University. He represented the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in the regional parliament from 2013 to 2017, before becoming governor in 2019.