Today, we commemorate the thirty-third anniversary of the heinous Altun Köpru and Taza massacres, in which hundreds of Turkmen people fell victim to the atrocities committed by the criminal Ba’ath regime. On a day like this, in the blessed month of Ramadan in 1991, the Republican Guard forces, affiliated with the criminal Ba’ath regime, committed a crime that shames humanity. The souls of hundreds of innocent Turkmen civilians from Altun Köpru, Kirkuk, and Taza Khurmatu were lost in these atrocities, including innocent children, youth, elderly, and women. They sought refuge from the oppression and tyranny of the criminal Ba’ath apparatus, which indiscriminately killed people to suppress and eradicate the popular uprising on March 28, 1991. This crime is added to the atrocities committed by the ousted dictator and his criminal party against the Iraqi people in all its spectrums.
Our remembrance of these crimes is to expose that criminal gang that ruled Iraq for many years. Today, we see those who lament that dark period, as well as to respond to those paid voices and propagandists who try to distort the facts and present a different image from the gruesome reality of the era of Ba’athist rule.
The horrific massacres committed against our Iraqi people, from all its components, especially the Turkmen brothers whose memory we honor today, are nothing but attempts to obliterate their national identity, displace them from their lands, and alter the landmarks of their cities and villages. However, this ancient people will always remain steadfast in preserving its national identity and defending the unity of Iraq, its land, and its people.
May mercy and eternity be upon all the martyrs of Iraq, especially those of Tuz Khurmatu, Taza, and Kirkuk.
Shame and disgrace be upon the criminal Ba’ath and its apologists.
Hassan Salem
Chairman of the Martyrs, Victims, and Political Prisoners Committee
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