On Tuesday, Kurdish leaders commemorated the 38th anniversary of the stage of the genocidal Anfal campaign conducted in the Badinan area, in which the former Ba’ath regime, from August 25 to September 6, 1988, subjected thousands of Kurds to genocide, enforced disappearance, and displacement, and destroyed hundreds of villages.

“The regime’s primary objective in this major crime was to alter the demographics of Kurdistan, implement a scorched-earth policy, and break the will of the people of Kurdistan. But the steel will of the people of Kurdistan to survive and achieve freedom prevailed,” President Masoud Barzani said in a statement.

Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani once again called on Baghdad “to compensate the families of all victims of the Anfal genocide, the chemical attacks, and all those who fell victim to the former regime. The KRG reaffirms its commitment to continue to support the families of the martyrs and Anfal victims.”

“The Anfal was a grave crime, recognized by the Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal as genocide, a war crime, and a crime against humanity,” Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani said in a statement. 

“The crimes and destruction of the past must stand as a lasting lesson and a warning for Iraq: that oppression and violation in all their forms are never allowed to return.”