The political bureau of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan released a statement on the occasion of the PUK Martyrs Day, which is commemorated annually on Nov 21.
"Today is PUK martyrs and the new revolution day. It is the day to bow down to the memory of our martyrs who gave their soul and life for the liberation of the country and saving the people and soil of Kurdistan in all stations of struggle, from the beginning of prison resistance to the new revolution and it courageous, to the uprising and final liberation from the chauvinist and dictator Baath regime, to the station of resisting terrorists' threats with all its different colors and masks. In this solemn record, the PUK did not only give hope to our people, but also found a new pathway in struggle, in the golden cell of martyrdom, the PUK made great inventions in a way that the people named Mam Jalal's PUK 'the party of martyrs'." the statement read.
It further added: "The PUK's convoy of martyrs is infinite and when we look at the past, we see pictures and courage of more than 20,000 martyrs. The courageous and brave sons of the PUK in prison, battlegrounds, secret struggle and the cities' activities became honorable symbols for revolution when they were martyred while standing with honor and high heads and wrote 45 years of history with blood and tear. On this sacrificing route and in the early days of the PUK's new revolution and struggle, the leader martyrs (Shihab Sheikh Nuri, Anwar Zorab and Jaafar Abdulwahid), who spent days in the prison of the fascist Baath regime, without having any fear walked to the execution rope and made the great slogan "live short but with standing tall" a pioneer for martyrdom and with their courage and braveness they gave spark and energy to the revolution, which is why Nov. 21 of every year is set as the day of PUK Martyrs and every year this partisan anniversary become an occasion to reaffirm promise and loyalty to the path of Martyrs of Kurds."
The statement pointed out: "We can not find a day in the calendar without having the memory of the martyrdom of a struggler of the PUK, there is not a braveness battle ground, nor a prison cell, streets, city or a village in this country with out having a PUK's brave soul sacrificing his/her life for it."
"Today is the for all martyrs of the PUK and the new revolution of our people without any difference, the day of martyrs of battlegrounds, commanding martyrs, the martyr of the organizations activities, martyrs of torture and execution, martyrs whose fate is unkown, women, children, Anfal and chemical bombardment martyrs, genocide, religious and other nation minorities in our country who gave their lives in the PUK's ranks and the new revolution of our people for freedom against fascist Baath regime, it is the day of those martyrs who saved Kurdistan and humanity from the evil ISIS terrorists and spilled their pure blood on the soil of Kirkuk, Khanaqin, Khurmatu, Gullala (Jalawla), Makhmur and Shingal until Hamrin." It read.
The PUK's statement went further to say:
"The struggler people of Kurdistan!
Honorable families of the martyrs, we in the PUK consider all martyrs of the liberation of Kurdistan without discrimination as our own martyrs and martyrs of Kurdistan, we bow our heads with flower wreathes on their shrines and we consider ourselves as servants of the honorable families of the martyrs.
Our martyrs gave their life for a group of sacred goals, a part of those goals have been achieved and most of them are still pending and further struggle and sacrifice are needed to achieve them, that is why we find it necessary to remind everyone, especially the official institution, such as the parliament and the KRG, that we all owe our martyred friends, their honorable families are our responsibilities where we have to take more and more active steps to provide a honorable life for them.
In this sacred day we reaffirm that national unity, solving governing and political issues with responsibility and making real reform and confronting corruption and providing better living for people and developing Kurdistan's economy, are loyalty to the martyrs and a respect for the sacred goals and hopes that they gave their lives for."
It promised that " PUK will continue as a national responsible force, as the PUK of achieving difficult tasks, the PUK that gave 20,000 martyrs and thousands of other brave strugglers to achieve the sacred goals and national and democratic rights of the people of Kurdistan."
Edited by: PUKmedia/PUKNOW