In a post on X on July 31, Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani honored the memory of the Barzani victims of genocide under Iraq’s former Ba’ath regime on the 41st anniversary of the atrocity.
On this day, we honor the memory of the Barzani victims of genocide under the previous Ba’athist regime. pic.twitter.com/0mJRY4Ky9x
— Masrour Barzani (@masrourbarzani) July 31, 2024
On July 31, 1983, Saddam Hussein’s Ba’ath regime kidnapped 8,000 members of the Kurdish Barzani tribe, including children, and transported them to the deserts of southern Iraq, where they were killed and buried in mass graves.
“The crime was part of the beginning of a series of crimes organized to destroy the nation of Kurdistan by the former regime of Iraq,” former Kurdistan Region President and leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party Masoud Barzani said in a statement.
Message of President @masoud_barzani on the 41st Anniversary of the Anfal of the Barzanis
— KDP ForeignRelations (@kdpfro) July 31, 2024
In the name of God, the Gracious, the Merciful
The former Iraqi regime unjustly and unscrupulously arrested 8,000 Barzani men, young and old, aged nine to ninety, simply because they were… pic.twitter.com/TO2jRuKte5
“We also thank the people of Kurdistan, especially the people of Erbil, Harir, and Soran, who were with the Barzani people during this bitter time,” he added.
Prime Minister Barzani also said that the Kurdistan Region on this day commemorates “all the victims of the racist campaign by the Ba’ath regime who faced the most inhumane crime of ethnic cleansing.”
“This tragic event marked the beginning of other campaigns in Garmian and Badinan, chemical attacks on Halabja, and genocide in other parts of Kurdistan.”
He underlined that the Barzan Region in the Erbil Governorate has always been a center of Kurdish nationalism and revolution, due to which it faced many attacks. “However, the enemies have never succeeded in destroying the spirit of resistance.”
Additionally, he underlined that victims of the families should be compensated by the Iraqi federal government in Baghdad.
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani in a statement expressed “our gratitude to all who provided assistance to the Barzani victims during that difficult period.”
“We reaffirm our commitment to pursuing justice for the mass killings against the Barzanis and other atrocities suffered by the people of Kurdistan. We call for international recognition of these events as genocide and emphasize the importance of unity and solidarity among political parties and communities in Kurdistan.
The genocide against the Barzani tribe was part of the Anfal Campaign during the Iran-Iraq War in which 180,000 people were killed and more than 3,000 villages were destroyed. The Ba’ath regime also killed 5,000 people with chemical weapons in Halabja.
The Kurdistan Region gained autonomy after the establishment of a no-fly zone in 1991.
The United States liberated Iraq from Saddam’s Ba’ath regime in 2003 with support from the Kurdish peshmerga and opposition forces.
The office of the Embassy of Canada to Iraq in Erbil in a post on X also underlined that July 31 marks 41 years since the stage of the Anfal Campaign that targeted the Barzanis and killed thousands of innocent men, women, and children.
“Canada reaffirms its commitment to maintain peace and stability in Iraq including Kurdistan to prevent such future atrocities.”
