Turkish attacks escalate ISIS threat and must end

Switzerland officially recognized the 'genocide' committed by ISIS mercenaries against the Yazidis in 2014 in Shingal and other Iraqi areas earlier this month. Based on this, the Yazidi Women's Freedom Movement (TAJÊ) sent a letter to the Swiss Parliament urging them to stop Turkish attacks on NE Syria, stressing that these attacks renew the risk of reviving ISIS mercenaries.

The statement from the Yazidi Women's Freedom Movement reads as follows:

"Throughout history, Armenian, Yazidi, Christian, Kurdish, and other communities have been subjected to numerous massacres aimed at eradicating them. The Yazidi community is one of these communities, having faced 74 massacres throughout history in the land of Mesopotamia. The Yazidi faith is one of the oldest beliefs that has coexisted with other religions and beliefs for thousands of years without causing harm to any of them. This ancient culture has been subjected to extermination campaigns throughout history. The world witnessed the genocide committed against the Yazidi community on August 3, 2014, when ISIS fighters attacked the Yazidi community in Shingal. This dark force, ISIS, openly committed genocide against the Yazidi community, displaying a level of brutality unseen in human history.

Ten years have passed since the genocide against the Yazidi community. Over these ten years, 14 countries, including Switzerland, have officially recognized the massacre and genocide. We, in the Yazidi Women's Freedom Movement (TAJÊ), see this as an important and positive step.

Regarding ISIS crimes against the Yazidi community in Shingal, with numerous studies confirming that ISIS committed massacres against our community, we believe in your efforts and solidarity as representatives of the people to hold ISIS and their partners, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the occupying Turkish state, accountable, as they were the main perpetrators. ISIS must be held accountable for its crimes against our community, as must the Kurdistan Democratic Party, which sold Shingal, and the occupying Turkish state, which supported ISIS. They must all be prosecuted in international courts, ten years after the genocide.

Today, the Turkish state supports hundreds of ISIS sleeper cells in Iraq and Syria by sheltering them and providing logistical support and training, as seen in Afrin, Serê Kaniyê (Ras al-Ain), and Tal Abyad, as well as most recently in Shahba and Manbij, which are occupied by the Turkish state.

These practices continue to revive the ISIS mindset through the arrest and killing of civilians, displacement, rape of women and children, and looting in these areas. The Turkish state and its mercenaries are committing genocide against Yazidis, Kurds, Christians, Muslims, and other communities.

To curb the daily genocide practiced by the Turkish occupation and its mercenaries, and to address the concerns related to the revival of ISIS, the occupying Turkish state's practices, which contribute to the resurgence of ISIS, must be stopped. This renewal of the threat to the Yazidi community risks repeating the August 3 massacre in Shingal.

Therefore, as the Yazidi Women's Freedom Movement (TAJÊ), we call for the prosecution of ISIS mercenaries and their partners, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Turkish state, before international courts to prevent any further genocide against our community."

A-H

ANHA