Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani extended his condolences to the victims of the gas attack, writing in a post on Facebook, “The best loyalty to our martyrs is freedom and independence for the Kurdish nation.”
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said the perpetrators of the attack “are forever condemned.”
“Today, we are commemorating with great sadness one of the crimes committed by the dictatorial regime, which is the crime perpetrated in Halabja,” said Abadi.
“Today, we live a free, democratic and pluralist life, in which every party is a participant and moving towards the hope of building a future in a stable country which protects its entire nation,” he said. “We have been confronting a terrorist and hooligan group, which is a continuation of the former Baath regime. We have achieved victory and will strengthen this victory by protecting the nation and defending freedoms at all cost.”
“Peace for the victims of the former Baath regime in the north to the south, and to our people in Halabja. The perpetrators of this action against our nation are forever condemned. Commemorating an event like this can only increase our strength, unity and commitment to the principles of justice and rightfulness,” Abadi said.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons paid tribute to the memories of the victims, saying “we also remind ourselves that we must remain steadfast in our commitment to never let this happen again.”
“To ensure that future generations are forever spared the horror and suffering that occurred in Halabja, let us recommit ourselves to the complete elimination of chemical weapons from the world,” the organization, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, said in a written statement.
Kurdish Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani noted that Kurds continue to be victims of genocide.
After #Halabja & the Anfal campaign, we thought our people would never face genocide again. We were wrong. #Sinjar #HalabjaMemorialDay
— Qubad Talabani (@qubadjt) March 16, 2017
Yezidi genocide survivor Nadia Murad expressed her “great sadness” on this day.
With great sadness we remember the 29th anniversary of #Halabja Genocide. Thousands of innocent people were killed by chemical weapons.
— Nadia Murad (@NadiaMuradBasee) March 16, 2017
Safeen Dizayee, KRG spokesperson, said on Twitter that as the victims of Halabja are remembered, “we’re prepared to take extraordinary measures to protect people of Kurdistan from similar acts.”
“On this solemn day, we honor the memories of the husbands, wives, sons, daughters, brothers and sisters who perished in Halabja and throughout the Anfal, as we continue our joint efforts to defeat Da’esh and to prevent future atrocities,” read a statement issued by the US Consulate General in Erbil, using an alternate name for ISIS.
