Barzani Reaffirms Support for Feyli Kurds' Rights

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Genocide of Feyli Kurds

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The International Conference on the Genocide of the Kurdish People, and Feyli Kurds will be held on Tuesday. The event is hosted by President Masoud Barzani, the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), and sponsored by Kurdistan 24

Ali Feyli, an advisor to KDP President Barzani, told Kurdistan 24 that the conference will highlight the crimes committed against Feyli Kurds by the former Iraqi regime in the 1980s.

Feyli expressed his gratitude to President Barzani and Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani for their support for the conference.

This is the first time, after 43 years of the genocide committed against Feyli Kurds, that a scientific conference will be held on this important issue.

Feyli also stressed that while the Iraqi government recognized the genocide committed against the Feyli Kurds more than 10 years ago, nothing has been done to compensate them.

On April 4, 1980, the Iraqi regime began a campaign of ethnic cleansing of Feyli Kurds in Baghdad, Diyala, Kut, Khanaqin, Jalawla, Numaniyah, Mandali, Naft Khana, Badra, Gassan, and many other places, resulting in killing 600,000 Feyli Kurds.

Although the Iraqi High Tribunal in 2008 and the Iraqi Parliament in 2010 officially recognized the genocide of the Feyli Kurds, they have not been granted Iraqi citizenship nor compensated for the crimes committed against them.

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/31 ... on-Tuesday

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A research center of Feyli Kurds

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – President Masoud Barzani of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) proposed opening a research center on Feyli Kurds in the Kurdistan Region’s capital, Erbil

Barzani’s suggestion came during a speech he delivered at the International Scientific Conference on the Genocide of the Kurdistan Nations (the genocide of Faily Kurds) in Erbil, with the participation of numerous Kurdish and Iraqi politicians, researchers, journalists, and foreign diplomats.

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and President Nechirvan Barzani also attended the three-day conference, which will host a range of panel discussions, presentation of research papers as well as policy recommendations on the Feylis.

The KDP leader proposed establishing a center tasked with following up on the affairs of the Feyli Kurds.

“The Feyli Kurds are an inseparable part of the Kurdish nation and have courageously resisted all attempts aimed at ethnic cleansing. Despite repeated attempts, they have been able to protect their identities and culture,” Barzani said.

The Feylis are ethnic Kurds and followers of the Shiite sect of Islam. The former Ba’athist regime in the early 1980s launched a systematic ethnic cleansing campaign, by firstly revoking their citizenship and later deporting the Feylis to Iran, accusing them of disloyalty to Iraq.

Between 10,000 to 20,000 young Feylis are estimated to have been killed by the former regime. Many Feylis, who are predominantly merchants and businesses, were also stripped of their properties and assets.

Barzani highlighted the “remarkable role” the members of the community played in the Kurdish revolutionary movement, led by the late General Mustafa Barzani in the last century.

Several important KDP organizations were run by notable Feylis, including the party’s women and youth union, as well as the KDP secretary.

The Kurdish leader recalled how the former dictatorial regime experimented with chemical weapons on nearly 300 Feyli Kurds in the Akashat area of Anbar province in 1981. The regime had similarly tested chemical weapons on 150 Barzani youths, Barzani added.

Barzani called on the Iraqi government to compensate the Feyli community for the moral and material damages sustained at the hands of the former regime.

Only a small number of Feylis were able to acquire Iranian citizenship after they were expelled from Iraq. Thousands of others spent years in displaced camps in Iran in dire economic conditions until the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003.

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/31 ... eyli-Kurds

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Barzani Reaffirms Support for Feyli Kurds' Rights

Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani, president of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), met with several personalities and representatives of the Feyli Kurds. During the meeting, he stated that the Feylis are a symbol of sacrifice and a clear example of the oppression faced by the Kurdish people

On Sunday, November 3rd, in Pirmam, Barzani met with a number of Feyli Kurdish representatives and several Feyli organizations.

During the meeting, the Feyli delegation briefed Barzani on their issues, including the deprivation of a large number of Feyli Kurds of their rights and identity, the effects of torture and deportation, and the consequences of ongoing chauvinist policies, according to an official statement from Barzani’s headquarters.

They also expressed gratitude to Barzani for consistently defending the rights of the Feyli Kurds amid the challenges they face, and for being a steadfast advocate for the restoration and consolidation of their rights.

Furthermore, Barzani welcomed the representatives of the Feyli organizations and associations and expressed his appreciation for their positions.

He stressed that the Feyli Kurds have always been oppressed, exiled, and displaced "because of their national identity."

Barzani also reiterated his commitment to doing whatever he can to support and uphold the rights and demands of the Feyli Kurds across the Kurdistan Region and Iraq.

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