Kurdistan Leaders Join Scholars in Duhok to Advance Recognition of Kurdish Genocide

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – In a solemn and determined effort to translate the deep wounds of history into an unassailable record for the international community, the fifth joint international scientific conference on the genocide of the Kurdish people commenced in Duhok on Tuesday, with the significant presence of President Masoud Barzani underscoring the profound national importance of the gathering.

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani also is set to attend the opening ceremony of the Fifth International Conference on the Recognition of the Kurdish Genocide, hosted by the University of Duhok.

The high-profile conference, bringing together academics, researchers, and international experts, serves as a vital platform to shed light on the atrocities committed against the Kurdish people throughout history, particularly during the Anfal campaign. The event aims to strengthen global recognition of the Kurdish genocide, promote justice for its victims, and ensure that such crimes are never repeated.

The two-day conference, a landmark collaboration between the Kurdistan Regional Government's Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and the Ministry of Health, aims to meticulously and scientifically document the Anfal crimes and the harrowing legacy of mass graves, with the ultimate and long-sought goal of achieving formal international recognition of the genocide perpetrated against the Kurdish people.

This high-level gathering in Duhok is not an isolated event but the latest and most scientifically focused chapter in a sustained and multi-faceted campaign waged by the Kurdish people and their leadership on both local and global stages.

It follows a series of academic and cultural initiatives, from the halls of Yale University to the symbolic city of Halabja, all aimed at preserving memory, demanding justice, and ensuring that the systematic effort to annihilate the Kurdish nation is never forgotten or repeated.

The conference represents a strategic pivot, a concerted effort to harness the power of forensic science, genetic identification, and international law to build a case that is not only morally compelling but legally and scientifically irrefutable.

A Synergy of Science and Scholarship

The joint organization of the conference by the ministries of Higher Education and Health is a deliberate and strategic choice, reflecting a two-pronged approach to the immense task of documenting genocide. This collaboration creates a powerful synergy, merging the distinct but complementary expertise required to build a holistic and irrefutable case.

The Ministry of Higher Education brings to the forefront the academic, legal, and historical scholarship essential for contextualizing the crimes, while the Ministry of Health provides the critical scientific and medical expertise needed to unearth and interpret the physical evidence of the atrocities.

The ambitious agenda of the two-day conference is meticulously structured to address every facet of the genocide.

A central focus is the grim and meticulous work of investigating mass graves, a process that relies heavily on the field of forensic medical anthropology to properly exhume and analyze human remains.

This is complemented by the vital role of DNA and genetic identification in giving names back to the victims, a process that provides both irrefutable evidence and a profound humanitarian service to families who have waited decades in anguish.

Alongside this scientific evidence-gathering, the conference is tackling the complex legal dimensions of the crime of genocide, charting a path toward recognition by international bodies.

The agenda also underscores that this is not merely a historical issue, as one of its core topics is the specific recognition of the Yazidi genocide case. By including this, the organizers frame the 2014 atrocities committed by ISIS as part of a continuing pattern of genocidal violence against the diverse peoples of Kurdistan.

Furthermore, the conference delves into the unique horrors of the Anfal campaign, dedicating a specific focus to the devastating and lingering effects of chemical weapons, as well as the deep psychological and social consequences of post-Anfal trauma.

A Sustained Campaign for Global Memory and Justice

This concerted effort in Duhok is the culmination of years of dedicated work to elevate the cause of Kurdish genocide recognition on the world stage.

Just this past April, a historic conference entitled “History & Legacy of the Kurdish Genocide” was held at the prestigious Yale University in the United States, bringing the issue to a prominent international academic audience. 

That event, organized by the university's Genocide Studies Program, featured powerful video addresses from both Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and a delivered message from President Masoud Barzani, demonstrating a unified high-level commitment to engaging with the global community.

In his message to the Yale conference, President Barzani described the gathering as "a valuable step and initiative to achieve historical justice and responsibility by revealing the facts."

He recounted the systematic persecution that reached its peak under the Ba'ath regime, detailing the Anfal campaign which resulted in the deaths of more than 182,000 Kurdish civilians and the destruction of over 4,500 villages.

“The only aim of genocide was to annihilate the Kurds,” President Barzani’s statement read. “The aim was to destroy the will of the Kurdish people who only ask for freedom and improvement of their lives… They only wanted to live in peace and they had no other crime.”

He poignantly noted that "being without an independent state has made the Kurds to face annihilation and was unable as it is needed to prevent themselves from the aggression and animosity of the adversaries."

Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, in his own speech to the Yale audience, echoed this call for action beyond mere remembrance. “Justice must come alongside remembrance,” he stated, linking the historical atrocities to the recent genocide committed by ISIS against the Yazidis and Christians.

He noted that while the crimes of ISIS were formally recognized as genocide by the United Nations and the United States, "the global response remains insufficient." He issued a powerful call to the academic world: “Your research, your voices, and your compassion will help give meaning to the words ‘never again’.”

The commitment to remembering all victims was further demonstrated in April with the first-ever international scientific conference dedicated to the Yezidi identity and heritage, held in Duhok under the patronage of Prime Minister Barzani.

That event brought together scholars from 11 different countries to discuss the religion, history, and culture of a community that has faced centuries of persecution, culminating in the 2014 genocide.

These international academic endeavors are complemented by a vibrant and determined effort within Kurdistan to preserve the memory of the genocide through cultural and artistic means.

In December 2023, a conference titled "Genocide as Reflected in Literature and Art" was held in Halabja, where 18 researchers and academics presented studies on the Anfal campaign. The event also featured powerful paintings depicting the brutality of the campaign and traditional Kurdish music.

As artist Bakhtiar Halabjaee told Kurdistan 24 at the time, "This conference is important for us as Kurds because we do not have a lot of documentation [of the crimes], especially during the Anfal campaign."

The conference in Duhok, therefore, stands on the shoulders of these previous efforts. It is a methodical and determined step to fill the very documentation gap that artists and scholars have identified as a critical weakness.

By bringing together forensic experts, geneticists, legal scholars, and historians under one roof, with the full backing and presence of the Presidency, the Kurdistan Region is making its most ambitious and scientifically grounded push yet.

As the experts present their findings over the next two days, their work represents a solemn and sacred national duty: a unified effort to ensure that the voices of the victims are amplified by the irrefutable power of science, and that the crime committed against them is finally and formally given its proper name by the world: genocide.