Nine years after the Islamic State (ISIS) perpetrated genocide against the Yazidi people in Sinjar (Şengal), the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) has expressed its determination to hold those responsible to account and to stand by the people of Sinjar and the Yazidis.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the KCK honoured the memory of those who lost their lives during the genocide and expressed shared pain with the Yazidi people. “We will hold all those responsible for the suffering and the genocide to account,” the KCK stated.
The KCK condemned the “fascist ISIS gangs” and their collaborators, describing the acts as “a dark mentality” and “savagery”. The KCK also stressed humanity’s historical responsibility towards the Yazidi people, who have been subjected to attacks and massacres through the years. They called for the creation of conditions in which the Yazidi people will never again be subjected to genocide and in which they will be able to keep their faith and culture alive, ensuring “democratic self-administration and self-defence”.
The statement criticised the lack of resistance of the Iraqi state forces and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) during the ISIS attack, and praised the guerrillas and the People’s Protection Units (YPG)/Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) forces for preventing a far greater genocide. It condemned the “Treaty of 9 October”, signed by the Kadhimi government on behalf of the Iraqi state and the KDP with support from the United Nations (UN), as “a document representing this insult and shame,” referring to current attempts by the KDP and the Iraqi state to control the Yazidi people.
The KCK called for the rejection of impositions that do not respect the will of the people of Sinjar and urged the Iraqi state to abandon its current attitude “regarding the impositions of the KDP and the Turkish state”. The statement also highlighted the responsibilities of international states and organisations towards the people of Sinjar, calling for support for democratic self-administration and self-defence forces.
