Condemning the recent wave of threats against the Yazidis, Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party has issued a warning to the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), saying, “Contrary to certain baseless accusations, the Yazidis have for centuries believed in peace in Kurdistan and the Middle East, their sole aim being to safeguard their faith and culture. Yet, despite this, this ancient ethnic faith community has repeatedly faced the threat of genocide throughout history.”
The statement iossued by the DEM Party Central Executive Board on Sunday 11 August starts by referring to the 73 massacres in Yazidi history and asserts that this ancient people are “once again facing the imminent threat of annihilation, this time orchestrated by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP)”.
The DEM Party further asserts that the Yazidis, who were targeted, massacred, and enslaved by ISIS’s brutal attacks, are now being singled out by radical elements following statements made by former peshmerga Kasım Şeşo (Ghasem Shesho). This new threat, reportedly initiated by the Barzani administration, is laying the groundwork for systematic ethnic and religious cleansing. The ongoing effort to uproot the Yazidis from their homeland and complete the genocide, first set in motion after the 73rd Edict of Sinjar (that issued by ISIS), is being revived today.
The party accuses the KDP administration in Erbil (Hewlêr) of subjecting the Yazidis to harsh conditions, effectively forcing them to flee abroad. The party also points to the issuing from Zakho mosques of fatwas, which have renewed calls for a massacre, putting the Yazidis at further risk. It issues the following warning to the KDP and the Kurdistan Regional Government: “Stop this dangerous game immediately. Today, as in the past, the Kurdish people will defend the right of the Yazidis to live in safety and peace in their own lands.”
The DEM Party also calls on the international community to prevent a renewed massacre of the Yazidi people: “We reaffirm our commitment to defending their right to live freely on their ancestral lands and their right to self-governance. Let us not remain silent in the face of this oppression. Let us raise our voices togethetr and say ‘No’ to this crime against humanity.”
