ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Kurdish leaders on Wednesday marked the 34th anniversary of the popular 1991 uprising against the former Baath regime, urging unity among the nation and political parties to preserve the revolt's achievements.  

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani extended his “warmest congratulations” to the people of the Kurdistan Region, urging “unity” among the Kurdish political parties.

“One of the major achievements of the Kurdistan nation that we will always remain proud of is the nationwide uprising, in which all components of our nation took part in it, as a result of the unity and unanimity of the Kurdistan nation, and Kurdistan’s political forces and sides,” PM Barzani said in a statement on Wednesday. 

Thirty-four years ago today, residents of Raniya rose against the former regime’s state institutions, removing them from the city and its surrounding towns and villages.

The uprising quickly spread across other Kurdish cities and towns, including Sulaimani on March 7, Erbil on March 11, Duhok on the 14th, and Kirkuk on the 21st. 

"The Kurdistan Region was liberated from tyranny and occupation,” PM Barzani said. "The Kurdistan Regional Government and Parliament were established as a result of a free, and democratic election.”

“Today, more than ever, we need unity and unanimity to defend the constitutional entity, and the Kurdistan Region’s legal and legitimate institutions, as well as all the achievements we made as a result of the sacrifice and struggle… of the brave Peshmerga… and the blood of our honorable martyrs,” read the PM Barzani’s statement. 

“The people of the Kurdistan Region will not give up on their rights under any threat or pressure,” the Kurdish premier detailed. 

Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani, for his part, said on Wednesday that the Kurdish nation “gloriously” marks the 1991 uprising, extending his congratulations to "the families of the martyrs, the heroic Peshmergas and the entire Kurdish people, including all its communities.”

President Barzani said the uprising, which put an end to Saddam Hussein’s rule in the northern Kurdish region, was a “historical and decisive” move that led to the foundation of the Kurdistan Region.