Meral Çiçek
“It is no coincidence that Turkish airstrikes against Sinjar increased after the October 9, 2020 agreement – or rather, plot. Because these attacks are carried out according to the agreement,” writes Meral Çiçek for Yeni Özgür Politika
The fascist Turkish state has attacked Sinjar twice in the last week. Merwan Bedel was murdered in the first attack. The target of the second attack was the building of the Xanesor People’s Assembly.
These latest Turkish UAV (unmanned aerial vehicles) attacks on Sinjar come at a time of ISIS’s attacks on Başûr (Iraqi Kurdistan) territory. ISIS attacks are on the rise in areas where their status should be determined on the basis of Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution, but that has been never done, and therefore these regions are faced with conflicts and attacks. The reason for that is subject for another topic. However, it is noteworthy that the TC [Turkish Republic] has intensified its attacks against Sinjar in such a process.
Nadia Murad pointed out this fact on the official Twitter account of her initiative, saying that “Turkey, a NATO member, is terrorising the Yazidi community instead of targeting ISIS”, and then pointed to foreign powers saying “The international community has a moral responsibility to oppose Turkish aggression”.
The Free Yazidi Foundation, which is based in the Netherlands, the United States and Sinjar, also called on Iraq, the Kurdistan Regional Government, NATO and the UN Security Council to take responsibility. “Turkish airstrikes against Sinjar must end immediately. First, ISIS came from land to destroy the Yazidis. Now Turkish warplanes and reconnaissance planes are attacking from the air. WHERE IS THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY? How many Yazidi people have to die to stop Turkey?”
Nadia’s initiative and Free Yazidi Foundation, notes that TC targeted Yazidis in its attacks on Sinjar. However, the KDP press, or rather Kurdistan24 and BasNews, cite the PKK as the target of the attacks. Merwan Bedel is the ‘PKK Commander’ and the Xanesor People’s Assembly building is called ‘PKK headquarters’ according to these media outlets.
However, TC itself has so far not made an official statement about either attack. In other words, even the perpetrator does not try to defend himself as ‘I shot the PKK, not the Yazidis’, but why do these media outlets need to publish such false-manipulative news? This needs to be questioned.
Merwan Bedel was co-chair of the Executive Council of Sinjar’s Autonomous Administration.
Before that, he fought and commanded against ISIS in the ranks of Sinjar Resistance Units (YBŞ) for many years. Merwan Bedel was an honourable Yazidi who chose to resist in August 2014 against ISIS despite KDP and Iraqi forces leaving the people there open to the ISIS genocide. He chose to defend his people and his land with his life. With his determination to fight, his commitment to his land and identity, he became one of the pioneers of the Sinjar Yazidi community.
In other words, he became a representative of the will of Sinjar Yazidis.
That’s why TC murdered him. The fascist AKP-MHP regime is targeting the will of the Sinjar Yazidis. That’s why it bombed the People’s Assembly building. The People’s Assembly is the institution in Xanesor where people discuss the problems of the organised Yazidi community, seek solutions to these problems and make decisions. In other words, it is the place where the will of society is symbolised.
It is no coincidence that Turkish airstrikes against Sinjar increased after the October 9, 2020 agreement – or rather, plot.
Because these attacks are carried out according to the agreement. First of all, this needs to be seen. The agreement, which was made despite the Yazidi’s opposition, pioneered by US/UN, and signed by Erbil and Baghdad, is mostly attacking the will of the Sinjar Yazidis.
They aim to break the will of Yazidis who responded to the 74th decree by organising and resisting They want to prevent the self-determination of the Sinjar Yazidis, they want to establish control and exercise their power over them, and to return to the situation before 3 August 2014.
However, is it possible for a society that has faced genocide to forget what they went through? Will a people who have reached the meaning and consciousness of wilfulness by organising and resisting, surrender to someone else?
The target of any attack on Sinjar is the Yazidi’s will. Yazidi’s were organised after the ISIS genocide. The same will is resisting attacks by both regional and foreign powers. Therefore, the only way to frustrate the colonial policies that did not give the Yazidis any thing other than genocide in the 21st century is to defend and strengthen the will of the Sinjar Yazidis.
