The Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) issued a call to women, peoples and international forces to unite against the Turkish state’s deployment of Islamic State (ISIS) militants to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). The statement was made at a press conference in Raqqa (Reqa), northern Syria, on Sunday, attended by YPJ General Command members and regional defence council representatives.
Sozdar Dêrik of the YPJ emphasised the threat posed by Turkey’s use of ISIS fighters in the region, highlighting past atrocities committed by the group in Syria, Iraq and beyond. “ISIS’s massacres in Syria, Iraq, Sinjar (Şengal), Kurdistan and Europe remain in the public’s memory. Thousands of Yazidi women were abducted, and countless lives were lost,” she said.
The YPJ accused the Turkish state of attempting to replicate its annexation tactics used in Rojava [Kurdish-majority regions of northern Syria] in Iraqi Kurdistan. They alleged that Turkish-backed ISIS militants are being sent to regions such as Metîna and Zap in the KRI to fight guerrilla forces. “The Turkish state aims to occupy Başurê [South/Iraqi] Kurdistan with the help of ISIS and treacherous collaborators,” the statement read.
YPJ also condemned the reorganisation and funding of ISIS fighters in Turkish-occupied areas, warning of their deployment to various countries, including those in Europe and Africa. The group called for a unified resistance, urging the Iraqi Kurdistan regional and Iraqi federal governments to reject Turkish and ISIS presence. “We fought ISIS alongside Peshmerga and international revolutionaries in Kobane; today, we must protect all of Kurdistan and the Middle East with the same spirit,” Dêrik stated.
The YPJ called on Peshmerga forces (Iraqi-Kurdish security forces), regional governments and international entities to stand against the Turkish occupation and ISIS brutality. They appealed for a radical stance against Erdoğan’s policies and an end to the Turkish state’s genocidal campaigns.
“We will not allow ISIS to resurge in the region. We will continue to fight for the safety of our women and peoples, as we did in Kobane,” Dêrik concluded.
Sepi Media, an independent news outlet, recently exposed Turkey’s alleged training of 416 former ISIS fighters in Afrin (Efrin), Syria, reportedly deployed to the KRI to battle the Kurdish guerrilla forces. Also, journalist Erdoğan Altan claimed that Turkey uses these militants to create a buffer zone in the KRI and alter regional demographics. His report detailed Turkey’s control points, identity checks and evacuations in the region, where over 800 paramilitary fighters, including ex-ISIS members, have been relocated.
