Message of President Masoud Barzani the 41st Anniversary of the Anfal of the Barzanis

In the name of God, the Gracious, the Merciful

The former Iraqi regime unjustly and unscrupulously arrested 8,000 Barzani men, young and old, aged nine to ninety, simply because they were Barzanis and Kurds and inhumanly massacred them in the deserts of southern Iraq. This crime was part of a series of crimes committed by the former Iraqi regime to destroy the Kurdish people, from the disappearance of 12,000 Faily youth, Anfal, chemical attacks throughout Kurdistan, Arabization and forced deportation and demographic changes in Kurdistan.

On the 41st anniversary of the Anfal of the Barzanis, we salute the souls of the martyrs of Anfal and all the martyrs of Kurdistan. We also thank the hardworking people of Kurdistan, especially the people of Erbil, Harir and Soran, who were sympathetic to the Barzanis and helped them during this bitter time. We thank the relatives of the Anfal victims, especially the Barzani mothers and women who were examples of resistance and heroism and suffered the pain of waiting, longing and loss of loved ones.

These crimes committed against the people of Kurdistan were nothing but the result of the chauvinistic, tyrannical and inhumane mentality of the former Iraqi regime, and that mentality is the main reason for the backwardness, suffering and tragedies of the peoples of Iraq and the region as a whole.

Masoud Barzani

July 31, 2024