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BARZAN, Kurdistan Region — Georges Yohenna crosses his heart and eyes while wearing the costume of the Barzani tribe.
The 82-year-old, a Christian from the village of Bedyal, is a survivor of the Barzan Anfal.
The forced deportation of the Barzanis from their homeland started in 1975, after the Kurdish revolt collapsed as Iran and Iraq reached a settlement for the revolt's end.
That year, thousands of Barzanis were deported to southern Iraq. In 1978 other Barzanis were forcibly transferred to a number of settlements in the vicinity of Erbil. The Barzanis who had been sent to southern Iraq were transferred again, to the settlements in the Erbil area.
The genocide of the Barzanis occurred in three stages in 1983, and became known in popular culture as Anfal - though officially, Anfal refers to the extermination campaign against the Kurds by the Baath regime from 1986-1988.
Like many Barzan area villagers, residents of Bedyal were forcibly displaced to Diyana, Soran province as part of the Anfal campaign in 1978. Bedyal was once home to 50 families. It now hosts only eight.
Two Bedyal villagers were killed in Diyana in 1983 for wearing the distinctive red turban scarf worn by the Barzanis. One was Georges' brother, and the other was his cousin.
"They told my brother that if he were to wear a blue turban and throw away the red one, he wouldn't be arrested," Georges said. "He refused, and said 'How can I throw it away? It is my identity. We are Barzanis.' I wish I could be with them, because they are immortal and judged as innocents. They took him away like a partridge in a cage and never brought him back.
Joliyan Khoshaba, son of Khoshaba Yohenna, was only 10 when his father was killed. Both his mother and sister died of a heart attack after his father was killed, so he is the only surviving member of his family. He remembers how his father was taken away.
"I remember one night, the Baath regime surrounded the Diyana compound. In the morning, they arrested anyone who would wear the red turban scarf. I remember when they told my father, 'you’re an Assyrian Christian - throw away your turban and we'll do nothing to you.' But my father refused to do so," Joliyan said.
Reporting by Bakhtiyar Qadir
Translation by Sarkawt Mohammed
The 82-year-old, a Christian from the village of Bedyal, is a survivor of the Barzan Anfal.
The forced deportation of the Barzanis from their homeland started in 1975, after the Kurdish revolt collapsed as Iran and Iraq reached a settlement for the revolt's end.
That year, thousands of Barzanis were deported to southern Iraq. In 1978 other Barzanis were forcibly transferred to a number of settlements in the vicinity of Erbil. The Barzanis who had been sent to southern Iraq were transferred again, to the settlements in the Erbil area.
The genocide of the Barzanis occurred in three stages in 1983, and became known in popular culture as Anfal - though officially, Anfal refers to the extermination campaign against the Kurds by the Baath regime from 1986-1988.
Like many Barzan area villagers, residents of Bedyal were forcibly displaced to Diyana, Soran province as part of the Anfal campaign in 1978. Bedyal was once home to 50 families. It now hosts only eight.
Two Bedyal villagers were killed in Diyana in 1983 for wearing the distinctive red turban scarf worn by the Barzanis. One was Georges' brother, and the other was his cousin.
"They told my brother that if he were to wear a blue turban and throw away the red one, he wouldn't be arrested," Georges said. "He refused, and said 'How can I throw it away? It is my identity. We are Barzanis.' I wish I could be with them, because they are immortal and judged as innocents. They took him away like a partridge in a cage and never brought him back.
Joliyan Khoshaba, son of Khoshaba Yohenna, was only 10 when his father was killed. Both his mother and sister died of a heart attack after his father was killed, so he is the only surviving member of his family. He remembers how his father was taken away.
"I remember one night, the Baath regime surrounded the Diyana compound. In the morning, they arrested anyone who would wear the red turban scarf. I remember when they told my father, 'you’re an Assyrian Christian - throw away your turban and we'll do nothing to you.' But my father refused to do so," Joliyan said.
Reporting by Bakhtiyar Qadir
Translation by Sarkawt Mohammed
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