The Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) issued a written statement on the 11th anniversary of the genocide committed against the Yazidi people by ISIS in Shengal (Sinjar) on August 3, 2014. The KNK condemned the attacks against Shengal and emphasized their opposition to all plans developed against the will of its people.
The KNK statement includes the following:
“August 3, 2014 is a dark and painful day when yet another genocide was carried out against our Yazidi people. Arab chauvinism, Islamic fanaticism, and reactionary forces united under an anti-Kurdish and anti-Kurdistan perspective and attacked Kurdistan through the gates of Shengal under the guise of ISIS.
Shengal, the ancient homeland of the Yazidi people, was made into a planned target of ISIS attacks. All occupying forces in Kurdistan were pleased with these attacks. Turkey, Iran, and even the Baghdad administration and the chauvinist regime in Damascus acquiesced to these events. ISIS became the vanguard of anti-Kurdish and anti-Kurdistan sentiments, ideas, and emotions emanating from these occupation centers. ISIS served as the trigger for the colonial systems in Kurdistan. With this onslaught, their primary aim was to eliminate all the gains made by the Kurds in South and West Kurdistan, impose colonialism on the Kurds once again, and target the Yazidi faith through Islamic fanaticism, aiming to eradicate it. For this reason, they perpetrated a genocide against our Yazidi people.
ISIS hordes invaded Shengal and began massacring our Yazidi people. They surrounded and slaughtered men, taking women and children captive and dragging them into their dark Islamist world. They sold thousands of Yazidi women they had taken captive in dirty markets. They subjected women to systematic rape. Those who managed to escape the ISIS atrocities fled to other regions of Kurdistan in dire poverty. Mount Shengal once again became a refuge for the resistance of the Yazidi people.
These tragic acts against the Yazidi people shook Kurdistan and the world. Kurds rushed to the aid of the Yazidi people from all sides. In particular, HPG guerrillas and YPG-YPJ forces put up great heroism and self-sacrifice, intervening quickly and stopping the attacks. The people of Kurdistan mobilized on every civil and military front. While fighting against ISIS on one hand, they took care of the displaced people on the other. International humanitarian circles also provided significant support in terms of both military and humanitarian needs. The national forces of Kurdistan protected the Yazidi people through great resistance. ISIS was stopped through this national and international unity, and Shengal and other Kurdish regions were liberated.
Although Shengal was liberated from ISIS and many Yazidis have returned to their homeland since, the wounds of August 3, 2014, are still bleeding. The fate of many Yazidi women who were taken captive remains unknown. For this reason, this tragedy has turned Yazidi women into a symbol of the struggle against Islamist reactionaries, fanaticism, and dark mindsets. This issue must be kept on the agenda with all its gravity. Several of our Yazidi people are still living as refugees under difficult conditions; many are staying in camps and have not returned to Shengal. The roads for their return must be opened, and national and international efforts to improve their living conditions must be strengthened.
Unfortunately, the Iraqi government and KDP forces, which were in Shengal at the time and were responsible for protecting the city, failed to do so. This led to a great catastrophe befalling our Yazidi people. These forces, which failed to defend Shengal and handed the city and its people over to ISIS, are now making plans for Shengal. The KDP, which is part of the Bashur administration, and the Baghdad government signed an agreement on October 9, 2020, without consulting the people of Shengal, aiming to leave the city and its people defenseless and powerless once again. Turkey was most satisfied with this agreement. Just as it collaborated with ISIS in the occupation of Shengal, it also had a hand in the October 9 Agreement. The people of Shengal and the forces defending it do not accept this agreement and are standing against it. Thanks to the resistance of the people of Shengal, this agreement has not been implemented so far and should not be implemented in the future either. The will of Shengal’s people must be respected, and no plan must be imposed on them against their will. The Yazidi people have faced brutal attacks for centuries due to their faith. This situation reveals a truth: the people of Shengal must both protect themselves and govern themselves. Therefore, Shengal must have a special and autonomous status within Kurdistan.
Eleven years have passed since the 2014 genocide, but the threats and dangers facing Shengal have not ended. Dark forces and enemies of the Kurds are still engaged in plans and dirty games. They seek new genocides, aiming to expel those who hold the Yazidi faith from Shengal, and sever this city from Kurdistan. In this regard, all Kurds and Kurdistanis must remain vigilant and defend the Yazidi land.
On the anniversary of the heartbreaking events that befell our Yazidi people, the Kurdish people’s hearts are broken and still wounded. Healing these wounds and alleviating this pain is only possible through the national unity of the Kurdish people and the people of Kurdistan.
The KNK hopes that the memory of this genocide inflicted upon our Yazidi people will serve as a catalyst for national unity, that all components of Kurdistan will unite to liberate our homeland Kurdistan from occupation, and that our people will achieve true freedom.”
Source: ANF News
