Barzani: Free, independent future is only guarantee to not suffer another Anfal
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The best loyalty to the memory of those who died in the Anfal genocidal campaign is building a free, independent, peaceful future under the Kurdistan flag, said the President of the Kurdistan Region Masoud Barzani.
“Anfal and all the other crimes committed against the people of our nation and the territory of Kurdistan are living evidence of the rightfulness of our rights and demands,” said Barzani in a published statement on Anfal Remembrance Day, marking the 29th anniversary of the campaign carried out under former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
“The best loyalty to the blood shed by our martyrs is building a free and independent future in which all the social makeup lives peacefully and fraternally under the flag of Kurdistan. This is the only guarantee to ensure that our nation does not again face the threat of the crimes perpetrated against us.”
Barzani extended his condolences to the families of the victims and pledged that his government would continue “its efforts to bring the sacred bodies of those martyred in Anfal back to the homeland.”
He also stressed that “Iraq is responsible for the compensation of the families of the victims of Anfal.”
The Iraqi parliament voted on Thursday to establish a fund to compensate survivors and relatives of the victims of Anfal, as well as to establish a centre to document evidence of the genocide.
Barzani urged continued efforts for international recognition of the Anfal genocide, calling it an “embarrassing patch on the face of the enemies and the world. It is a painful wound to humanity, especially to those who chose silence in the face of this disaster.”
Anfal was a genocidal campaign against Iraq’s Kurdish population carried out under ‘Chemical Ali’ Hassan Majid, cousin of Saddam Hussein, in 1988 during the end of the Iran-Iraq war.
The government of Saddam portrayed its campaign as a counterinsurgency against Kurdish guerrillas. It declared prohibited zones in Kurdish areas and carried out mass killings and displacement.
Kurds who did not flee to the mountains that were under Peshmerga control were killed, moved to southern Iraq, imprisoned, or executed. Others starved to death.
As many as 182,000 Kurds were killed and 4,000 villages were destroyed.
Majid was sentenced to death on June 24, 2008 for his role in the Anfal campaign.
The word Anfal, the code word used by Baghdad for the campaign, is taken from the Quran and means ‘the spoils of war.’
“Anfal and all the other crimes committed against the people of our nation and the territory of Kurdistan are living evidence of the rightfulness of our rights and demands,” said Barzani in a published statement on Anfal Remembrance Day, marking the 29th anniversary of the campaign carried out under former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
“The best loyalty to the blood shed by our martyrs is building a free and independent future in which all the social makeup lives peacefully and fraternally under the flag of Kurdistan. This is the only guarantee to ensure that our nation does not again face the threat of the crimes perpetrated against us.”
Barzani extended his condolences to the families of the victims and pledged that his government would continue “its efforts to bring the sacred bodies of those martyred in Anfal back to the homeland.”
He also stressed that “Iraq is responsible for the compensation of the families of the victims of Anfal.”
The Iraqi parliament voted on Thursday to establish a fund to compensate survivors and relatives of the victims of Anfal, as well as to establish a centre to document evidence of the genocide.
Barzani urged continued efforts for international recognition of the Anfal genocide, calling it an “embarrassing patch on the face of the enemies and the world. It is a painful wound to humanity, especially to those who chose silence in the face of this disaster.”
Anfal was a genocidal campaign against Iraq’s Kurdish population carried out under ‘Chemical Ali’ Hassan Majid, cousin of Saddam Hussein, in 1988 during the end of the Iran-Iraq war.
The government of Saddam portrayed its campaign as a counterinsurgency against Kurdish guerrillas. It declared prohibited zones in Kurdish areas and carried out mass killings and displacement.
Kurds who did not flee to the mountains that were under Peshmerga control were killed, moved to southern Iraq, imprisoned, or executed. Others starved to death.
As many as 182,000 Kurds were killed and 4,000 villages were destroyed.
Majid was sentenced to death on June 24, 2008 for his role in the Anfal campaign.
The word Anfal, the code word used by Baghdad for the campaign, is taken from the Quran and means ‘the spoils of war.’