Shafaq News/ The Kurdish leader, Masoud Barzani, on Saturday said that facing repression and the struggle for liberation is an inherent desire of every Kurd.
He made the remark in a congratulatory statement on the anniversary of the March 1991 Kurdish uprising.
"I extend my warmest congratulations and blessings to the families of the honorable martyrs, the heroic Peshmerga, and all the citizens of Kurdistan, who showed their revolutionary enthusiasm against the oppressive and occupying institutions," Barzani said in a statement. "Their uprising was a clear message that despite the injustice and intimidation, the desire for liberation and emancipation and confronting oppression is rooted within every Kurdish individual."
The Kurdish leader deemed the uprising "one of the great and valuable feats of the people of Kurdistan, in which the people, the Peshmerga and the political parties united, in addition to the accuracy of planning and the foresight of the Kurdish political leadership, which became a strong factor in attaining freedom during that complex and dark era."
"The uprising of the people of Kurdistan was an opportunity to direct world public opinion to the pain and suffering of the Kurdish people in order to take practical steps to protect them," he said. "It was also a unique opportunity to rely on the capabilities of the people of Kurdistan to restore their oppressed rights for many years."
"What the people of Kurdistan and their great uprising are proud of are those eloquent values and lessons, which they presented as high examples of moral behavior and principles of love and peace in the region and the world," he added.
Barzani recalled that when thousands of Iraqi regime soldiers were captured by the Peshmerga, "none of them were harmed."
"On the contrary, they were released, and they were given the choice either to stay in Kurdistan with honor and dignity or to go to their families or outside the country," he said.
"On this glorious anniversary of the great Kurdistan uprising in the spring of 1991, we reaffirm the message of peace and freedom for the people of Kurdistan, this noble message that must remain alive forever," he concluded.
