While the Turkish attacks on Southern Kurdistan (Northern Iraq) have entered a new phase in the last two weeks, with airstrikes targeting areas that are not close to the Turkish border but up to 200 kilometers away, Mustafa Karasu, a member of the Executive Council of the KCK (Kurdistan Communities Union), stated that this is related to the goal of implementing the October 9, 2020 agreement on Shengal between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Iraqi government.

In an interview aired on Medya Haber TV channel, Karasu questioned the motives behind the Turkish airstrikes on Shengal on August 16 and 17. Ten people were killed in the attacks on a vehicle in Shengal 's Old Market and then on a medical center. Reactions from the governments in Hewler (Erbil) and Baghdad to the attacks on Iraqi territory have been absent.

"These attacks were basically carried out to enforce the Shengal Agreement of October 9 between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Iraqi government and impose it on the Yazidi people. It means either you accept this agreement, or the Turkish state will continue to bomb Shengal," Karasu stated. "Since the KDP and Iraq have kept silent about the attack, it also means that they want to use Turkey to implement the agreement. They are using the Turkish attacks as a blackmail tool."

Karasu referred to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu's remarks at the international conference in Baghdad on August 29: "After the Baghdad meeting, Çavuşoğlu is reported to have said: 'We will eradicate the PKK in Shengal.' This is actually an attack against free Kurds, against free spirits and against the Yazidis. This is like the ISIS. There is no difference anymore between what the Turkish state is doing today and what the ISIS did in 2014."

Karasu also criticized the United Nations for praising the agreement between the governments of Hewlêr and Baghdad, although the Yazidi people have been completely excluded from it: "The United Nations should say the following to the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Democratic Party: 'How can you implement a project on your own without seeking the opinion of the aezidi people?' How can you decide on Shengal without doing this?'"

Commenting on Turkey's participation alongside Egypt and Jordan in the international conference in Baghdad, Karasu said that Turkey's presence there could only have negative consequences: "We believe that Egypt and Jordan want stability in Iraq. They are Arab countries. Iraq is also an Arab country, and it is only natural that they want stability and peace. However, nothing good will come out of a meeting or relationship involving Turkey for the peoples of the Arab world or the Middle East."