Erling Folkvord, a former Norwegian Member of Parliament, Oslo City Council member and close friend of the Kurdish people, died on Friday afternoon while traveling in Stockholm in connection with a book project on Kurdistan and Palestine.

The Executive Council of the Kurdish National Congress (KNK) issued a condolence message on the death of Erling Folkvord.

The KNK Executive Council expressed great sorrow over the death of Erling Folkvord, a dear friend of the Kurdish people and the Kurdistan Freedom Struggle: "Our dear friend Erling Folkvord, who worked tirelessly for decades for all oppressed peoples, especially the Kurdish people, to achieve their democratic rights and freedoms, was always with us with his ideas and active participation. Throughout his entire political career, he has supported our people's struggle for freedom as vice-president of the Workers' Communist Party of Norway and later as a member of the Red Party, as a former Norwegian MP and as a member of the Oslo City Council. On this occasion, he traveled to different parts of Kurdistan dozens of times, wrote three books and dozens of articles on the Kurdistan cause, and became a voluntary ambassador to the Norwegian public and the whole world about the struggle of the Kurdish people.

We extend our deepest condolences to the family of Erling Folkvord, the friend and worker of Kurdish, Palestinian and all oppressed peoples, and to his party and all his loved ones for his passing.

We will keep our friend, companion and ambassador for peace and democracy Erling Folkvord alive in our struggle. May he rest in heaven."