ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Monday presented French President Emmanuel Macron with a Kurdish edition of the book Kurdistan, Mon Ami, collated by humanitarian and war photographer Lam Duc Hien. The book features powerful images of life in the Kurdistan Region.
Speaking to Rudaw on Monday, Hien described his work as a personal and heartfelt tribute to the Kurdish people and their homeland. The book is a melange of photography and storytelling that captures the everyday life, resilience and strength of the Kurds through the lens of a French individual.
“This book took 34 years for me to complete. The first time I came here in 1991, I took pictures of Kurdish people who had fled the massacre of [toppled Iraqi dictator] Saddam Hussein to the mountains,” Hien shared.
The Laos-born French photographer was referencing the Anfal campaign launched by the Saddam Hussein-led Baath regime in the late 1980s. The campaign, which unfolded in eight stages across the Kurdistan Region, claimed the lives of more than 182,000 Kurds and destroyed over 4,500 villages.
Hien explained that his book documents the stories of Kurds who were suffering in the aftermath of the campaign.
“In March 1991, I photographed the Kurds who had fled to the mountains. They were suffering - dying in the snow and rain, without any food. During that time, I met a family living in a cave, making a fire to bake bread. That was the first time I experienced Kurdish bread, and I will never forget its smell and taste,” he said.
Hien also expressed his deep gratitude for President Barzani’s decision to gift his book to the French President, Macron, calling it a “great honor.” He noted the strong bond and friendship between France and Kurdistan that has endured for decades.
“As French people, we've always stood with the Kurdish people. It was incredible to see both presidents looking through my book.”
According to Hien, President Barzani received a copy of his book weeks before his Sunday trip to France. He further asked Hien to pen a letter to be gifted to President Macron alongside the book.
President Barzani wanted to demonstrate to President Macron and the French people “how the [Kurdish] people are generous, how the people love me and how I love them. So, I shared my passion with him through that letter.”
France and the Kurdistan Region enjoy a long-standing relationship, which began in the aftermath of the Gulf War, when France supported the establishment of a no-fly zone that allowed for Kurdish autonomy. France was also one of the first countries to open a consulate in Erbil following the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
