On the 11th anniversary of the genocide committed by ISIS in 2014, discussions, evaluations, and efforts within the Yazidi community and among the people of Shengal have intensified around building a free and democratic future. Since 2014, the Yazidi people have not only defended themselves against continued attacks but have also begun constructing their own democratic system.
Over the past eleven years, the Shengal Autonomous Administration has consistently sought to establish relations with the central Iraqi government on a democratic basis in order to resolve the region’s pressing issues. However, instead of supporting the Yazidi people’s efforts for self-determination and democratic governance, the Iraqi state, particularly during the administrations of Mustafa al-Kadhimi and Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, has chosen to escalate repression through military and intelligence means.
Now, after eleven years, the Yazidi community and the people of Shengal are reassessing their relationship with Iraq. In this context, both the trajectory of Iraqi politics since the 1920s and Baghdad’s stance toward Shengal following the genocide have become the focus of renewed analysis and debate. Grounded in a historical perspective, the Yazidi people are intensifying their struggle to establish a democratic system and a future based on freedom.
Politician Hisên Hecî spoke to ANF about the formation of the Iraqi state following the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the subsequent political and administrative transformations that followed.
Yazidis have never been recognized as a people or a religious community
Politician Hisên Hecî emphasized that the Yazidis have been denied social and democratic rights for the past 100 years. He said, “After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the Iraqi state was established as a monarchy in the 1920s. Within this new state, Yazidis were neither recognized as a people nor as a religious community. As a result, they were granted no rights. The Yazidi community was never seen as equal citizens. Whether under a monarchy, a republic, or a parliamentary system, the specific identity of the Yazidis was never acknowledged. Yet in all of Iraq’s genocides, wars, and crises, the Yazidis stood with courage.”
As is well known, in 1975, Saddam Hussein forcibly displaced the Yazidis from Mount Shengal and resettled them in the lowlands. Hisên Hecî described this policy as a form of “partial genocide” and stated: “The Yazidis were once again forcibly uprooted from their homes, lands, and territories. They were torn from their mountains and resettled in collective farming zones. At that time, the Yazidis were left without agency. Since then, the effort to remove Yazidis from their native lands has never ceased. When the Iran–Iraq War began, thousands of Yazidis were martyred. They took part in the front lines with faith and courage. Yet to this day, they have been recognized neither as a people nor as a faith community.”
Whoever came to power used the Yazidis for their own interests
Hisên Hecî recalled that after 2003, Shengal fell under the control of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), following the establishment of Iraqi government authority over the region. He explained: “The KDP took over Shengal’s resources, its budget, and its elections. Whoever came to power in Iraq used the Yazidis for their own political interests. The Yazidis were never allowed to exist freely as Yazidis. We respect all peoples and all beliefs and we expect the same respect to be shown to our existence. Throughout history, Yazidis have been threatened with decrees, plunder, and forced displacement. Whenever the opportunity arose, a new decree or wave of exile was imposed on the Yazidi people.”
Hecî reflected on the genocide of 2014 and continued: “That genocide was part of a systematic and planned effort to eliminate us. Over the past eleven years, the Iraqi government has never approached the Yazidi cause, or Yazidi rights and justice, with any seriousness. If it had not been for the resistance of the Shengal Resistance Units (Yekîneyên Berxwedana Şengalê- YBS), Mount Shengal could have fallen into the hands of the ISIS. Yazidis might not have returned to their homeland for a century. But thanks to the freedom fighters, the Yazidi community came back to reclaim its lands.
Since then, six different governments have come and gone, yet none have taken meaningful steps for the Yazidi people. All have relied on stalling tactics and have used the Yazidi cause for political leverage. Dozens of states and international institutions have recognized the 2014 genocide, but the Iraqi Parliament still refuses to do so. To this day, it has lacked the courage to officially acknowledge the genocide. They refuse to recognize it because they know they are guilty. And by denying it, they prevent the Yazidi cause from gaining strength. Until now, no Iraqi government has approached the Shengal issue with sincerity or commitment. The three dominant powers in Iraq act together to protect their own interests, and it is the people of Shengal who continue to pay the price.”
Source: ANF News
