Message of the President of Salahaddin University on the 40th Anniversary of Anfal of Barzanis.
"In the name of God, the Almighty, the Most Gracious
"40 years ago, on this day, in 1983, the former Iraqi regime began destroying Kurdish villages and burning Barzan villages, killing 8,000 people, including men and women. The regime took the Barzani youth and after their arrest, they were sent to the deserts of southern Iraq.
"Barzan region was an important and strategic centre of the Kurdistan national revolution and maintained its centrality in the Kurdish revolution during the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein.
"8,000 Barzanis were subjected to the atrocities of the Ba'athist regime. The tragedy occurred in such a brutal manner that only 6,000 bodies have been found after 40 years. The bodies and graves of 2,000 people have not been discovered yet.
"Kurdish leaders took up arms of honour and dignity to have power and sovereignty in their own country. This decision was a heavy blow for the Ba'ath regime, so they began to genocide the Kurdish people.
"The crimes and oppression committed against the children, youth, men and women of the Barzanis were because of their revolution and Kurdishness. However, the revolutionary and freedom-seeking will of the Kurdish people was stronger than the oppression of the Ba'ath regime.
What we are seeing now in prosperity, service, political, military, cultural and coexistence is the product of the revolution, sacrifice and blood of our people's martyrs and we will protect it with our souls and blood."
