SÜLEYMANİYE —  Enfal Massacre  Performed by the Baathist Regime and within 2 years killed 200 thousand  in Enfal,the women  who lost their  all family still feel that pain like the first day of massacre in their heart.Aske Eliya, from Kelar,is just one of these women.Aske defines Enfal as resurrection place and ‘the kurdish women are the biggest victims’ she says.

Al-Anfal Operation’s  pain,  which  carried out between 1986-1988  in order to eliminating kurds,still continues.Pioneered by the Baathist Regime of Saddam Hussein, the Baathist Regime killed at least 200 thousand kurds in Kelar,Germiyan,Koyê,Şiwan,Hewlêr,Cemcemal and Bahdinan.The persecution of Baathist Regime was not limited to Enfal. Survivor of many Kurds, were sold as slaves.It is said that many kurdısh women and children were sold to Kuwaiti sheikhs, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.The effects of massacre on the women still look like a fresh wound in women’s heart.One of the victim of Enfal is Aske.Aske who lost her husband,son nearly all her family describes Enfal as ‘doomsday place’.

‘I was desperated and just crying’

With crying she tells us that bad times.The war started  in Qadir Kerem district and In April 1988, it reached up to Germiyan. Guards and soldiers joined the operation.Firstly, the attacks began in Qeredax.The villages were bombed and everywhere was destroyed.Previously in our district, mostly young,48 people were arrested by the Saddam’s forces.Aske says that there were also women among the arrested people .  Apart from      the cruelty of the enemy, there was the most serious thing  about women. They were also killed and got drowned by the classic view of the sociaty. ‘Every new day was a new death for the women’ Aske says.My husband,son and groom were killed and in such sociaty it was very hard to look after my family as a woman.So in such conditions ı did not know what to do, ı was just crying.

She wants to bring her funerals to her country

‘Ali Hassan al-Majid, nicknamed Chemical Ali,executed on 25 January 2010,was responsible for this massacre and also for the Halabja massacre’ says Aske.

‘ I   was very glad when I heard  the death sentence of Chemical Ali.My expectation from Talabani and Barzani is that to prevent any war between kurds. I met with Massoud Barzani personally, and I warned him.Kurdısh gains should not be parties’ gains,these gains should service for all kurdısh people.I said him that ı want to my relatives funeral to be burieid in avillage which is near Çerçemal. Because these worths were given for Kirkuk.We want to more than lay claim to Kirkuk.Our scars will be recover only when Kirkuk again become a place of kurds.At the same time,this will  provide unity of kurds.Because in the some parts kurds are still under the persecution. Massacres are still in progress.Enfal should not be forgetten.There are some values that never can be bought and sold wit money.For not forgetting Enfal, each anniversary for 3 days live should be stopped,   nobody should go to work and there  sould not be entertainment program on tv. This is necessary for the massacre to be recognised by the whole world.

Translated by AYŞEGÜL ERTAŞ