Children of fallen Peshmerga hoist Kurdistan flag at Erbil ceremony
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The son and daughter of a Peshmerga fighter who was killed during the fight against the Islamic State raised the Kurdistan flag during a special ceremony at the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) main office in the capital of Erbil.
Prime Minister Masrour Barzani attended the ceremony, which took place at the front courtyard of the KRG building, located near central Erbil’s Sami Abdulrahman Park.
The two children, Sami and Neda, are the son and daughter of Hujam Surchi, whom Barzani described as “a brave Peshmerga martyr” in a tweet on Tuesday. Islamic State militants killed Surchi in the city of Mosul in 2015, a year after the terrorist organization took control of large swaths of Iraqi territory.
Sami and Neda, the son and daughter of Hujam Surchi, a brave Peshmerga martyr, hoisted the Kurdistan flag with me at the Flag Day ceremony today. We will always honour our heroes and remember those who have given their lives to defend this land. pic.twitter.com/z5WkvG5HYT
— Masrour Barzani (@masrour_barzani) December 17, 2019
Barzani affirmed in his social media post, “We will always honor our heroes and remember those who have given their lives to defend this land.”
According to the Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga Ministry, roughly 2,000 Peshmerga fighters have fallen while fighting against the Islamic State and over 10,000 more have been injured,
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Iraq declared a military victory over the Islamic State in late 2017. However, senior Kurdish and Iraqi officials continuously warn of a resurgence as the group regularly carries out insurgent-style attacks in the country, with a recent uptick in activity in areas it once controlled.
Kurds across the Kurdistan Region and around the world marked Kurdistan Flag Day, holding various annual events and activities wherein they play the national Kurdish anthem wearing traditional Kurdish outfits.
Related Article: Kurds across Kurdistan Region, world celebrate Kurdistan Flag Day
The official flag of the Kurdistan Region consists of three sections of red, green, and white, with a sun in yellow at its center.
Public institutions and offices across the region raised the standard to celebrate the occasion. It is tied to a landmark event over 70 years ago when the short-lived Kurdish self-governing state of Mahabad raised the flag for the first time, declaring itself the Republic of Kurdistan in Iran.
The day is also unofficially celebrated in other parts of Greater Kurdistan, such as Kurdistan of Turkey (Bakur) and Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava). The Iranian government prohibits the celebration of Kurdistan Flag Day in Iranian Kurdistan (Rojhilat).
During this year's observance, many public celebrations took place as well as quiet activities and events decorated by flags in educational institutions. This is the second celebration marked by the Kurds Flag Day in light of the improvement of relations between the regional government and the federal government after the tension following the independence referendum in 2017.
Editing by John J. Catherine