Today marks the thirtieth anniversary of the Anfal genocide campaign against the people of Kurdistan by the former Iraqi regime. This campaign which aimed at the annihilation of the Kurdistan people and their identity also targeted Kurdistan’s land and environment.

In addition to killing about 182 thousand innocent civilians, in a mass-extermination campaign, thousands of villages were destroyed, turning Kurdistan into a scorched land.

While honoring the memory of the victims of the Anfal campaign is a tribute to the sacrifices that these people have made over the history of their liberation movement, it also draws lessons, urging us to constantly act to prevent any similar campaigns, and help to eliminate the psychological, economic, political and social devastating implications of this campaign.

These tasks have long been the main concern of the Kurdistan Regional Government. Its constant efforts, in which it was succeeded to a great extent, to bring back the remains of the fallen Anfal victims, to reconstruct the destroyed villages and environment, and to improve the living conditions of the survived victims of the Anfal campaign, have always been the government's top priority. The KRG has done all it can to achieve them, and there is no doubt that much remains to be done.

At the international level, the KRG has been actively campaigning for the recognition of this brutal campaign as genocide. In Iraq, Anfal was recognized as genocide by Iraq’s Criminal Court. We hope that the Iraqi government, as legal and moral duty and responsibility, will take serious and practical steps to compensate, materially and morally, the survivors of Anfal and Kurdistan’s people and land.

Dear citizens of Kurdistan,

The only guarantee to prevent the recurrence of more aggressive campaigns against our people, similar to Anfal and the atrocities committed against our Yezidi citizens is the unity of ranks of the political parties and communities of Kurdistan. Our unity on the national issues was a key factor of success and progress of our just cause, leading to achieve our goals and build a thriving Kurdistan in peace and prosperity for our future generations.

The people of Kurdistan are always proud of their distinguished culture of tolerance. They will, however, not forget the sufferings inflicted by others’ injustice, as they will not forget the support extended to them by loyal friends.

We honor the memory of our people, perished in Anfal campaign.

Council of Ministers of Kurdistan Region
14 April 2018