President Masoud Barzani's Message on the Thirtieth Anniversary of the Uprising

On the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of the great uprising of the people of Kurdistan in spring 1991, I send my warmest congratulations and blessings to the families of the honorable martyrs, the heroic Peshmerga, all patriots, freedom fighters, and the general population of Kurdistan.

The uprising was an absolute rejection and a heroic response to oppression and occupation, as it was a great step for the Kurdish liberation movement towards establishing an important stage in the history of struggle for our people. The aim of the uprising was to restore and regain the land and rights of the people of Kurdistan, which have been taken by power and fire for a long time that shows that Kurdistani people no longer accept the status quo. The uprising was for the sake of enabling the people of Kurdistan to establish legitimate institutions on their land, within the framework of a democratic process, and to freely exercise their rights. On this blessed memory, we affirm the necessity of preserving the national and great goals and values of the uprising forever, and the need not to exploit the goals and gains of the uprising for the sake of limited personal goals or to minimize the objectives.

The people of Kurdistan have struggled and sacrificed blood to establish a free, democratic society and have a dignified life. Any person or any party that tries to undermine the values and objectives of the uprising or diminish its importance, is a real betrayal of the blood of the martyrs and the decades-long struggle of the people of Kurdistan and its sacrifices. On the other hand, there are hundreds of thousands of people of Kurdistan ready to defend the noble goals and values of the uprising.

Masoud Barzani

March 5, 2021