ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) President Masoud Barzani on Tuesday commemorated the victims of the Anfal genocide, calling for justice and national unity as he urged Iraq’s leaders to ensure that the constitution remains the guiding framework between Erbil and Baghdad.
“I hope that Iraq’s upcoming election brings a safer and healthier situation, a situation where the existing constitution becomes the arbiter between Erbil and Baghdad, between every citizen and the government. If the constitution is the arbiter, we will have no problems. But if personal mood decides, problems will continue and become greater,” Barzani said during a conference on the genocide of the Kurdish people throughout history.
Kurdish political leaders from the Kurdistan Region’s ruling KDP and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) parties have repeatedly accused Baghdad of failing to uphold the federal constitution in its dealings with the Region - a central theme of their ongoing election campaigns.
Barzani said that over the past century, Kurds have been subjected to genocidal campaigns carried out in a deliberate and systematic manner.
He recalled the atrocities of the 1988 Anfal campaign, when Saddam Hussein’s Baathist regime destroyed thousands of Kurdish villages, executed men, and imprisoned women, children, and the elderly in the Nugra Salman desert prison in southern Iraq.
More than 182,000 people were killed and over 4,500 villages destroyed during the eight phases of the Anfal campaign, which culminated in the 1988 chemical attack on Halabja.
“Those crimes are so great, they can never be forgotten. But come and see the greatness of this nation, they did not go toward revenge,” the KDP leader said.
He also referred to the 1991 Kurdish uprising that began on March 5 in Sulaimani’s Raparin district and quickly spread across towns and cities in the Kurdistan Region. The uprising expelled Iraqi forces from much of what is not Kurdistan Region and paved the way for the establishment of the Kurdish parliament in 1992.
Addressing Anfal victims, Barzani said: “It’s true we lost our loved ones and dear ones, but they went with dignity and reached the rank of martyrdom. But those who committed those crimes went with disgrace and shame.”
Barzani highlighted the resilience and determination of the Kurdish people, saying “We showed a truth - when a nation maintains itself and has will, it always succeeds. In history, dictators have never succeeded; they always failed.”
Khamis al-Khanjar, leader of the Sunni Sovereignty Party, also addressed the conference, stressing that “we must learn much from the genocide.”
He said that “states cannot impose themselves by attacking and assaulting peoples,” and praised the Kurds’ response to oppression, adding: “We must learn tolerance from the Kurdish people.”
Representing Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, Zaidan Khalaf, the premier’s adviser on human rights, expressed appreciation for President Barzani’s role in honoring the victims.
“On behalf of the Iraqi people, we thank President Barzani,” Khalaf said, affirming that “the Baath regime committed many crimes against the Kurdish people.”
He stressed that justice must be achieved for Anfal victims and said Baghdad would coordinate with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on the issue. “The remains of mass grave victims will be analyzed,” he noted, calling for all mass graves to be opened.
Khalaf also urged that “Halabja and Anfal crimes be included in school curricula,” describing the Anfal as “one of the most horrific pages of contemporary Iraq.”