Barzani on Anfal Anniversary: Chauvinist Mentality Should Be Eradicated

Prominent Kurdish leader and the president of Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Masoud Barzani, released a statement to commemorate the 36th anniversary of Baath regime’s Anfal campaign against Barzanis, saying chauvinist mentality should be uprooted.

“We are commemorating a dark day in the history of out nation,” Barzani wrote in his statement. “Thirty-six years ago, the Baath regime brutally massacred 8,000 young and elderly Barzanis, every men from 9 years old to 90.”

“Thirty-six years after such a grave crime, unfortunately, we still see the reflection of chauvinist mentality in some people and parties, which has always been the main problem between our nation and the successive governments of Iraq,” the statement continued.

“On this occasion, I emphasize the fact that marking this day is not to solely remember the sorrow, but it is rather to unify efforts to eradicate the mentality that led the Anfal campaign against us.”

Barzani also criticized the international community’s silence at the face of the multiple crimes against the people of Kurdistan, while daces after the extermination campaigns people are finding the remnants of their beloved ones in mass graves of southern Iraq.