YPJ: Recognizing Yazidi rights, autonomous administration ensure Shengal protection 

The General Command of the YPJ published a written statement on its official website marking the 12th anniversary of the genocide against the Yazidi community.

The YPJ strongly condemned and denounced the genocide committed by ISIS mercenaries against the Yazidis on August 3, 2014, and remembered with deep sorrow and respect the victims of the genocide and all those who sacrificed themselves by becoming shields against this brutality.

The statement said: “This deep wound inflicted on the heart and mind of our people in Shengal can only be healed by raising the level of struggle, building autonomous administration, and strengthening community organization.”

The statement explained that ISIS mercenaries, with the support and planning of the Turkish state, attempted to expand the genocide they launched against the indigenous Yazidi community in Shengal into a comprehensive genocide targeting the entire Kurdish people. It added: “To implement this dark strategy, the mercenaries launched the most brutal attacks against women, children, and the elderly, from Kobani to Shengal and Makhmur. At that historic moment, forces that claimed to protect the Yazidi community, including the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), abandoned their responsibilities and left the Yazidis to face the massacre alone in the face of the mercenaries’ brutality.”

The statement added that this plan suffered a historic defeat thanks to the heroic resistance carried out by the “12 knights.” It also said that women fighters, through their faith and steadfastness, became a model of resistance and contributed to breaking the aggressive patriarchal mentality that sought to suppress free will. 

The statement affirmed that the aim of these attacks was not limited to physical extermination but also sought to strip the community of its will and sever the people of Shengal from their historical roots and Yazidi identity. It noted that the crimes committed by ISIS, including killings, captivity, destruction of cultural memory, and attempts to erase religious existence, represent a major historical crime against human values and the philosophy of a free life.

The statement appealed to the global conscience and the international community to fulfill their moral and historical responsibilities to free thousands of Yazidi women and young people who remain in captivity, stressing that standing with the Yazidi people is a true measure of humanity.

The statement stressed that the threats facing Shengal do not target merely a geographical area but represent a direct attack on the political and social existence and the authentic identity of the Kurdish people as a whole. It affirmed that the true guarantee for protecting the Yazidi community lies in strengthening the system of democratic self-administration and officially recognizing its political and cultural rights, noting that protecting Shengal’s resistance and free will represents the preservation of the future of all free peoples.

The statement concluded by affirming the continuation of the struggle with determination and without interruption until all captive Yazidi women are liberated, the fate of missing persons is revealed, and all moral and humanitarian efforts are exerted to build a free, safe, and equal life worthy of the Yazidi community, while continuing to support its struggle and express its voice and will.

A-H

ANHA