Kurdish leader Barzani calls for compensations for Anfal Genocide

Shafaq News/ Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani on Sunday urged Iraqi state to work towards compensating the Anfal genocide and ethnic cleansing against the Kurds, warning against "evil" and "chauvinistic" policies against the Kurds.

In a statement released by his headquarters earlier today, Barzani denounced the former regime's attempts to "erase, destroy, and exterminate the Kurdish people".

"The chemical attacks on Kurdistan, the destruction of thousands of villages, the Arabization plans, the forced displacement, and the destruction of the economic, demographic, social, and psychological infrastructure of Kurdistan were other parts of the organized crimes committed by the former Iraqi regime against our people."

"It is true that the perpetrators of Anfal and other crimes have failed and fallen into the dustbin of history, but the effects of the genocide and oppression committed against our people are still there and the wounds of our people have not healed," he noted. "Despite the great injustice that our people have been subjected to, unfortunately there are still chauvinistic voices and colors against the Kurds within the Iraqi state."

"It is the duty of the official institutions of the Iraqi state to work on compensating the Anfal, genocide, and oppression that was committed against the Kurdish people. They must prevent all kinds of evil attempts and policies that look at the rights of the Kurdish people with a chauvinistic and denying view."

"On the 36th anniversary of the Anfal crime, we highly appreciate the sacrifices and resistance of the families of the Anfal and martyrs," he concluded. "We salute the pure souls of the Anfal martyrs and all the martyrs of the path to Kurdistan's freedom."