Masrour Barzani commends Kurdish people on anniversary of 1991 uprising

The iconic 1991 Kurdish uprising was a historic turning point in Kurdish people’s struggle for freedom, who rose against injustice and oppression, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said in a statement on Thursday.

March 5 marks the 29th anniversary of the successful uprising of the Kurdish people against the former Iraqi government, then led by brutal dictator Saddam Hussein.

In a special message to mark the occasion, Prime Minister Barzani congratulated the people of the Kurdistan Region, the brave Peshmerga, and the proud family members of martyrs.

Prime Minister affirmed the 1991 Kurdish uprising was “a message to the whole world that the Kurdish people will not tolerate oppression, reject occupation, and the denial of the Kurdish people’s legitimate rights.”

In response to years of repression by the central government, including the murderous Anfal campaign, which saw the killing and forced disappearance of at least 180,000 people over three years starting in 1986, the Kurdish people of northern Iraq rose up in March 1991 to put an end to Saddam Hussein’s reach in their areas.

“The great uprising of March 1991 was the fruit of unity and solidarity of all the diverse factions, and components of the Kurdistan Region’s society,” Barzani explained.

“The current gaining, development of the Kurdish people, and Kurdistan Region’s place in the international community, is the outcome of the ongoing uprisings and struggle of the people of Kurdistan, among them is the great 1991 uprising, which we must in retrospect of their struggle protect these national achievements,” he added.

Though largely spontaneous and locally organized at the start, Kurdish efforts against the Iraqi regime became more coordinated with time. Peshmerga units mobilized into various areas and forced the surrender of Iraqi forces at offices in cities and towns across the four Kurdish-majority provinces of Sulaimani, Erbil, Duhok, and Kirkuk.