ERBIL — Today marks the seventh anniversary of the October 16, 2017, treason, which resulted in the martyrdom and injury of numerous Peshmergas and civilians in the Kurdish disputed areas outside the Kurdistan Region, particularly in Kirkuk. Hundreds more were forced to flee, with some still unable to return to their homeland and left uncompensated.

On that day, the tears of a Peshmerga fighter, when tears and cold breath were mixed with betrayal, symbolized the loss of 51% of Kurdistan’s territory—land liberated from militants with the blood and sacrifice of thousands of Peshmergas.

This anniversary recalls the actions of October 16, 2017, when a faction within the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leadership, including its current president Bafel Talabani, conspired with Iranian-backed Iraqi militia groups against the interests of the Kurdistan Region. These Kurdish areas outside the region were seized by militia forces with foreign backing.

Later, Bafel Talabani appeared in an interview presenting a document to prove that “38 officials” from the PUK had signed a secret agreement with Baghdad to allow Hashd al-Shaabi forces into Kirkuk. However, several of the individuals named on the list denied having signed the document.

Hundreds of people were killed or injured on October 16, and about 200,000 people were displaced from the Kurdistan Region. Many of these displaced individuals have still not returned to their homes.

In the days following the October 16 events, 88 houses were destroyed, over 300 houses were burned, and around 2,500 houses were looted. In Kirkuk and other areas, the headquarters of political parties, particularly those of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), were looted and then burned.

Two days after the events, Kosrat Rasul Ali, then chairman of the Supreme Political and Interest Council of the PUK and the first deputy secretary general of the party, issued a statement blaming “immature individuals” within the PUK for the disasters in Kirkuk and Khurmatu.

However, on October 20, 2017, the Kurdistan Peshmerga halted the Hashd al-Shaabi militia’s attacks at Parde, near Erbil, and Sahela in Duhok province, marking a new chapter of resistance and reaffirming the Kurdish struggle, ultimately ending the assault on the Kurdistan Region.

Seven years after this historic betrayal, neither the United Nations nor fact-finding committees have taken significant action, remaining silent about the loss of life and property suffered by the Kurdish people in these areas.

On the first anniversary of October 16, Kurdish leader and president of the KDP, Masoud Barzani, issued a statement, describing it as “a dark day” in Kurdistan’s history.

“October 16th is a dark day in the history of our people. It was on this day that a dishonorable act of treason was committed against the aspirations of the people who have always been subjected to oppression,” Barzani stated.

According to Barzani, the original plan was to dismantle the Kurdistan Region as a constitutional, political, and administrative entity—a plot thwarted by the Peshmerga forces, who sacrificed their lives to reverse the conspiracy.

On the seventh anniversary of the October 16 betrayal, Erbil Governor Omed Khoshnaw posted on his official page, stating that “treason is the highest degree of immorality,” adding that “the treason of October 16 killed the hope of a nation.”