PUK recalls twenty-eighth anniversary of August 31
The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan ( PUK) said that "the wrong and repeated policies of the Democratic Party constantly open the wounds of the summer of betrayal, and the occupied capital on the ominous day of August 31."
![PUK recalls twenty-eighth anniversary of August 31](https://hawarnews.com/en/uploads/images/202408/image_870x_66d205ddb6f11.jpg)
The PUK Political Bureau's full message said:
"Twenty-eight years passed since the August 31st betrayal, the most significant disaster in the political history of our people. This event involved the official invitation of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) to the fascist Ba'ath army to invade Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan. By refraining from imposing treason and non-national supremacy, opting for a Kurdish call and peaceful concern would have effectively resolved the internal conflict, and a significant amount of bloodshed and suffering could have been spared. Additionally, the international reputation of our experience, which was already established at the outset, could have been safeguarded.
The consequences of this betrayal were not limited to the harm inflicted against the PUK and the Peshmerga forces, the loss of life, injuries, and displacement of numerous PUK and Kurdistan fighters, the killing and expulsion of Iraqi opposition forces opposing Saddam's dictatorial rule, but also inflicted a profound wound on the Kurdish nation that has persisted for twenty-eight years, leaving lasting political, social, economic, and cultural imprints on our region. For an extended period, it damaged the reputation and authentic and independence-oriented identity of being a Kurd in the global community. Regrettably, the frequent implementation of unfavourable policies by the KDP consistently rekindles the memories of the summer of betrayal and the trauma experienced in the occupied city on the dreadful day of August 31st.
On this sad, bitter, and sorrowful day and reflecting on its previous sacrifices for freedom, social peace, and the future of Kurdish generations, the PUK reaffirms its call for a united, responsible, and democratic effort to revive the new Kurdish struggle, rectify the governance, restore the balance of power in Kurdistan, and eradicate all factors contributing to monopoly, discrimination, oppression, and more. The betrayal of August, particularly in the backdrop of a backward immoral culture that still acknowledges this political misdeed as a supposed national accomplishment and shamelessly defends it, has deprived many aspects of our experience of its national, democratic, and just content.
a.k
ANHA