Sozdar Avesta, a member of the General Assembly of Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), spoke about the latest attacks by Turkish warplanes, which killed ten people in Sinjar in Iraqi Kurdistan.
“This attack was carried out to force the people of Sinjar to flee Sinjar and to prevent the Yazidi people from returning to Sinjar, so that the territory of the Yazidis could be seized by the bloody hegemonic forces,” she said.
She also recalled the attack of 16 August, which targetted the passengers of a vehicle near a market in Sinjar, and in which two people died, including Seid Hesen, a senior commander of the Sinjar Defence Units (YBS).
Avesta believes that the day the attack happened was no concidence, as the day Seid Hesen lost his life was the day that he was to meet with Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, the Iraqi Prime Minister, to talk about Sinjar.
“This attack on our friend Seid Hesen was planned. The day of the attack was planned. It was held on the day the Iraqi Prime Minister was to visit Sinjar,” she said.
Avesta said that the attack against the hospital, which took place on the following day, was a crime against humanity.
“This is highly immoral, highly dishonourable. Everyone knew that that was a hospital. They’re trying to turn what they’ve done, their dishonour, on its head.”
Avesta also mentioned the Sinjar Agreement, signed on 9 October 2020, regarding the future of Sinjar. The deal was signed between the governments of Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan, and stipulated the deployment of more than 8,000 troops to Sinjar as well as the removal of the Yazidi Asayish (Public Order) Centres formed by the local residents. Avesta believes that the deal will not be accepted by the locals, and that they will resist it.
“What’s the deal? It is to evacuate Sinjar completely, to break the will of the people of Sinjar, to expel the people of Sinjar from Sinjar. For this reason the Yazidi people will never accept this agreement. As they say themselves, they will resist and fight against this imposition to the last person standing.
She wound up by criticising the Iraqi Government for remaining silent about the attacks.
“The Iraqi government should be very clear that one of the aims of the recent attacks is to break the will of the people of Iraq to live together,” she said.
