​​​​​​​Shemo Khudida: Shengal belongs only to Yazidis

After the plan to occupy Shengal put forward, the risks to Shengal increased over time, and the threats of attack continued by the Iraqi state, which gave Shengal Asayish Forces until April 1^st to evacuate their locations. Regarding the recent developments in Shengal, and the agreements concluded against the Yazidi community, our agency held a private interview with Shemo Khudida, one of the notables of the Yazidi clans in Shengal Mount.

Khudida explained, "The situation in Shengal is very sensitive. All of our people in Shengal are fully aware of the plot hatched against Shengal, and they also know the background of the agreement concluded in this regard by the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, and the Kurdistan Democratic Party, where the Turkish occupation state handed over 5 million dollars for the Iraqi government to implement this conspiracy against Yazidis."

Shemo Khudida made clear, "The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) uses the displaced Yazidis to implement its own goals, and indicated that when the Yazidi community rejects the agreement between the Kurdistan Democratic Party and Al-Kazemi, it rejects slavery and humiliation."

Speaking to the massacre of the Yazidis in August 2014, Shemo Khudida said: "An indescribable genocide has been committed against our people, as a result of the Peshmerga Forces' inaction. So far, the cries of Shengal women are still ringing in the ears, and there are more than 70 to 80 mass graves in the vicinity of Shengal, while no one moved to exhume the bodies of our people from these tombs."

"We confront anyone who plots to undermine the Yazidis' will"

Khudida noted that the Shengal Protection Forces and Shengal Asayish Forces did not constitute any obstacle for governmental organizations and institutions to open the graves surrounding Shengal. He said, "We stand an obstacle in front of everyone who plans to undermine the will of Yazidis, and whoever concludes filthy agreements against our people in Shengal, we will be on the lookout for them, and whoever tries to harm our society will receive the appropriate response."

Khudida affirmed that the Yazidi community will never allow the Yazidi community to be exposed to a new genocide. He said, "We will no longer allow our people to be exterminated, our women and sisters to be captive, and the heritage of the Yazidis to be plundered."

Khudida explained that Shengal was subjected to the most horrific practices, and the conspirators tried to turn Shengal into a disaster area, noting: "After the attacks in 2014, the lighting poles were removed, and the main goal was to transform Shengal into a disaster area. Thanks to the Shengal Autonomous Administration Council and its institutions, Shengal was reconstructed and its cultural legacy preserved."

Khudida said: "The deceased Mam Bashir said: If they demolish a house, we will build a hundred houses, and we are absolutely certain that our administration is capable of that, and if the conspirators seek to demolish a hundred homes, we will build hundreds of homes."

"All Shengal people support their military forces"

Shemo Khudida confirmed that all Shengal clans support their military forces, represented by the Shengal Resistance Forces, and said: "We are with the fighters in one trench. We have pledged our people and our martyrs on that, and we will stay the course."

Khudida pointed out that there are forces trying to distort the image and management of Yazidis in front of the public opinion and the Iraqi state, for not recognizing the massacre that was committed against them in 2014, and said: "They claim the presence of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Shengal. PKK has made great sacrifices to the Yazidi people, and we will not forget this situation, and it has been recorded in our history as an existing thought, and this is a natural right, but as fighters, there is none of them within Shengal."

Khudida confirmed that Shengal is run by its people, and he said: "We Yazidis manage ourselves, and the fighters in Shengal are from its people." He indicated that Masoud Barzani confirmed that he would grant the votes of his party to Al-Kazemi in the elections, and the Turkish occupation state granted him $ 5 million in order to reject the will and management of Shengal people and Shengal Protection Forces, so that accusations are fabricated and unfounded rumors are promoted. He said, "This is a fatal mistake that Al-Kazemi makes."

Khudida explained that the Yazidis now have formed their political organization and organized themselves, adding: "If the Yazidis had organized themselves in the past, 74 genocides would not have been committed against them." He added that in the coming elections, Yazidis will vote for their organizations and political party, "We will vote for those who defend the Yazidi people within the parliament."

"The people are the source of authority"

Khudida noted that the people are the source of power, and if the Iraqi government wants to change a governor, the process does not take 5 minutes, and if it wants to change the prime minister of Iraq, the process does not take 20 minutes, and said: "So why do not they take the will of the Yazidi people seriously? Why do not they change the kaimakam of Shengal and replace him with one of Shengal people? The main reason is to steal the budget allocated to Shengal and put it in the pocket of the Kurdistan Democratic Party."

He added, "The Yazidi people are the oldest people in the history of mankind, and they have faced displacement, but thanks to their resistance and adherence to their culture, their religion and belief on the sacred soil in Shengal, they have become aware of all the plans and policies that are being hatched against them."

Khudida addressed Shengal displaced who were dragged behind the policies of the Democratic Party and regretted, and said: "The doors of Shengal are open for them and they will welcome them with open arms."

"What the Yazidis request of the Iraqi government is their legal right"

Turning to the genocide that the Yazidi community was subjected to, Khudida said: "The extermination of the Yazidis is not an easy thing, and anyone who tries to apply genocide to the right of the Yazidi community will not succeed with their policies. What Yazidis demand from the Iraqi government is a legitimate, constitutional and legal right."

Khudida asserted: "If these people had not stayed on Shengal Mount and defended it, the Yazidis would have suffered more, as Shengal was sold with an organized policy, and all the elders of Shengal Mount know this fact."

"Our people must listen to our voices"

Khudida addressed the Yazidi community and said: "I want our people to listen to our voices, today we have power, and we have everything. If any country, including the Iraqi state, attempts to launch an attack on Shengal, we will continue the resistance, and we, the Yazidi people, our history is visible in front of the whole world, even if we have hundreds of aircrafts, we do not attack anyone, and if the whole world unites against Shengal, we will escalate our struggle and resist, because we made a covenant with those who sacrificed their lives for the sake of Shengal, and we will fulfill our pledge."

"Qassem Shesho and Haydar Sheshu have nothing left in Shengal"

Khudida referred to the bilateral agreement between Baghdad and Hewler, which was signed in the matter of Shengal on October 9, 2021, and the announcement by the so-called Qassem Shesho to form a council for Shengal, and said: "There is a tribal council in Shengal, and the council consists of people who are loyal to Shengal, defend Shengal's gains with their lives, and do not follow their personal interests. The so-called Qassem Shesho, through the council that he formed, tried to win the people of Shengal to his side; where are our girls who were killed, and where are our young men who were beheaded while their bodies are still hidden in the desert?

Everyone knows that there is nothing left for Qassem Shesho in Shengal except for their spies working against the Yazidi people. If it were not for the resistance of the Shengal Protection Units and the Women Protection Units in Shengal, he had nothing now, they should return to the ranks of the Yazidi community and support the Yazidi people

He addressed his message to Qassem Shesho and Haydar Shesho to move away from these policies that aim to disperse the Yazidi community, and said: "The Yazidi people are one, and if a Yazidi is attacked, the other will be harmed. You now owe Shengal, your hands are stained with the blood of the children of Shengal, you have caused the extermination of thousands of Yazidis, and until now, the fate of hundreds of our mothers are still unknown, so how will you confront God in the face of all these crimes. Shengal now does not belong to anyone, but only to the people of Shengal."

"We must work to build a new Shengal"

He also appealed to the Yazidi youth to join the Shengal Resistance Units, the Women's Protection Units in Shengal, and Ezid Khan Asayish Forces to build a new Shengal. Shengal is now outside the games of foreign countries, and if this is not achieved now, it will be achieved in the future, and if the Yazidi people were subjected to 74 genocides, we are ready during these years to remain without shelter and food, bearing weapons to protect the rights and gains of Shengal to start a new life.

""Shengal has young guerrillas who are ready to defend it

Khudida continued, "Shengal now differs from the previous Shengal. Now it includes young guerrillas who are ready to defend Shengal's gains, and as long as we breathe on this land, we will not allow anyone to touch Shengal’s land. Shengal Protection Units, Women’s Protection Units in Shengal and Ezid Khan Asayish were not formed so easy to abandon the land of Shengal that simple."

"Yazidis must unify their forces"

At the end of his speech, Khudida appealed to the Yazidi people to unite their forces, adding, "The Yazidi people now have will and power thanks to the struggle of the Shengal Protection Units, and we will obtain our rights. We call on Iraqi people, international human rights organizations and countries of the world to support the Yazidi community."

D.H

ANHA