The official holidays for the commemoration of the Iraqi Kurdistan uprising in 1991 will be marked on March 4 and 5.

Mohammed Qaradakhi, Council Secretary of the Kurdistan Council of Ministers, made the announcement, adding that the rest of the holidays for March will be announced later.

The internationally supported 1991 uprising led to the establishment of the semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region.

Raniya, staged the first revolt on March 5, eventually becoming the first city of Kurdistan. Dissent spread and the uprising swept through almost all the cities established in Kurdistan today.

Kurdish partisans (Peshmerga) and the public had control of all government agencies by end of the month.

A northern no-fly zone was established following the First Gulf War in 1991 to facilitate the return of Kurdish refugees from Iran and Turkey, who had fled after the uprising.

Iraqi forces finally left Kurdistan in October 1991.

Other official holidays this month are: March 11, when the Kurdistan autonomy agreement was signed; March 14, the birthday of Great Barzani, Mustafa Barzani the spiritual father for many Iraqi Kurds; while March 21, marks Newroz, the Kurdish New Year.

This month also carryies the memory of tragedy, March 16, the chemical bombardment of Halabja.





AKnews