EVİN ZENDA

Shengal- Since the Iraqi government, Turkey and KDP signed an agreement on Shengal on October 9, 2020, the attacks on Shengal have continued. On February 1, Turkish warplanes and drones attacked Shengal, Maxmur, and Dêrîk. The airstrikes started at 10 pm and continued until 1 am. Shengal was bombed for hours. In the attacks on 21 positions, three people were killed and one was injured.  According to the local sources, these attacks have been the most comprehensive Turkish attacks in Shengal since 2017.

The Yazidi community has continued to struggle to have an autonomous Shengal. People of Shengal came together to protest Turkish attacks on their city. The Yazidi women, who attended the protest, reacted to the Turkish attacks saying, “If the Iraqi government had not cooperated with the Turkish state, they could not have attacked Shengal. The Turkish state has brutally attacked us because it has been defeated.”

“Stop the attacks”

Pakiz Celal, one of the protesters, spoke JINHA. Pointing out that Turkey has launched its operations by taking the permission of the Iraqi government, she said, “The Iraqi government remains silent against the attacks because Iraqi government and the Turkish state have a deal. All of us live on this territory but the Iraqi government always paves the way for the Turkish state to attack Shengal. The Turkish state bombed an official area of Iraqi soldiers. They attacked this area because they know that Yazidis live here. But they cannot annihilate us. Turkey is the enemy of us, Yazidis. For this reason, we don’t expect anything from it but Turkey attacks us even though the Iraqi government recognizes us as its citizens. We, as mothers, will protect our children to the end.” Pakiz Celal also called on the Iraqi government to “stop the attacks against us.”

“We will resist to the end”

Fehime Heci, another protester, also reacted to the Turkish attacks and said, “The Turkish state was failed in in Hesekê. For this reason, it attacked Shengal, Maxmur and Rojava Kurdistan. But it has been failed there. It attacks people not because it is strong, but because it is weak. We, as the youth of Shengal, will resist to the end for the autonomy and freedom of the people.”