ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Embassies, consulates and representations of foreign countries in the Kurdistan Region remembered the victims of the Halabja chemical attack on Saturday, the 36th anniversary of the massacre committed by Iraq’s toppled regime.
“The US underscores its commitment to stand with the people of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, to ensure a secure, democratic & prosperous future,” said the United States consulate in a statement.
“Despite the horrors of the past, Halabja remains a symbol of resilience and resistance against oppression,” the United Kingdom’s consulate said in a post on X.
British Ambassador to Iraq Stephen Hitchen told Rudaw that it is vital to remember all victims of the massacre, adding that it is also “important that we as the international community as well, remember what happened, take the lessons from it, and remember the individuals that were lost and not just the effect.”
On March 16, 1988, in the final days of the eight-year-long war between Iran and Iraq, warplanes of the former regime of dictator Saddam Hussein rained down a lethal cocktail of chemical weapons on the city of Halabja, killing at least 5,000 people, mostly women and children, and injuring hundreds of others.
The Canadian consular office said “Such crimes have moved #Canada to promote elimination of chemical weapons [including] through support for the OPCW,” referring to the intergovernmental Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
The Turkish consulate said the massacre “left a black mark on human history.”
The Czech consulate also joined other foreign missions in paying tribute to the victims of the tragic event.
“This heinous act of violence and atrocity must never happen again at any places around the world,” said the South Korean consulate in a post on Facebook.
Australian Ambassador to Iraq Glenn Miles paid his respects to the victims through a message he sent to Rudaw.
“Australia's commitment to the eradication of chemical weapons is founded in the memory of the many casualties of chemical weapons used in conflicts around the world,” he noted.
The Halabja chemical attack, which was recognized as an act of genocide by Iraq's High Court in 2010, has left a permanent scar in the historical memory of the Kurdish people. It was part of a wider Anfal genocidal campaign that saw over 182,000 Kurds killed by the Baathist regime.
"All of us should remember this day, just like we do in Japan on the day of atomic bombs being dropped on Hiroshima and Nagazaki," said Japan's Ambassador to Baghdad Futoshi Matsumoto in a video message posted on X.
"This is not just a mourning of the victims of around 5,000 people who perished on that day, but also in order to renew our shared commitment not to let it happen again," he added.
Updated at 3:20 pm
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