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President’s message on the anniversary of the Anfal Genocide

President’s message on the anniversary of the Anfal Genocide

Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani issued a statement on the 32nd anniversary of the Anfal genocidal campaign of the 1980s, in which more than 180,000 people were systematically killed by the former Iraqi Ba’ath regime. Below is the statement:

 

As we mark the 32nd anniversary of the infamous Anfal campaign, we remember the many victims who lost their lives in these genocidal and horrific crimes. On this day, we honor the victims of Anfal, all the fallen heroes of Kurdistan and we pay tribute to their families and loved ones.

The Anfal Campaign was among the most vicious crimes of modern history. Women, men, children and the elderly were indiscriminately rounded up and sent to mass murder sites while their villages and communities were bulldozed to the ground. The Anfal Campaign also had a devastating impact on the environment and the living conditions in many areas of the Kurdistan Region.

More than 180,000 citizens of Kurdistan lost their lives in the campaign, which were an outcome of the racist policies of the former Ba’ath regime in Iraq. It also led to the destruction of thousands of villages and towns across Kurdistan.

As we remember the victims and all fallen heroes of Kurdistan, it is crucial that we make all efforts to prevent the repetition of such genocidal crimes in Kurdistan or any other place in the world. It is also the Iraqi government’s moral and legal obligation to provide reparations to the families of the victims.

Following the Iraqi Supreme Court’s recognition of the Anfal Campaign as genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, we also urge the international community to do the same and recognize these crimes as genocide. We will continue our efforts to press for an international recognition of the Anfal Campaign as genocide. We will also continue to search for the remains of the victims and bring them back to the Kurdistan Region.

Once again, on this anniversary, we salute our fallen heroes who will eternally remain in the memory of the people of Kurdistan.

 

Nechirvan Barzani
Kurdistan Region President

 

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