The Şengal Autonomous Administration released a statement on the current situation in the main Yazidi settlement area in northern Iraq. According to the statement, all talks with the Iraqi leadership have so far been fruitless. The autonomous administration declared its readiness for peaceful cooperation with the Iraqi authorities and demanded that the right of the Yazidi community to self-determination and self-defense be respected.

"As we all know, there is a state of emergency in Şengal again. All eyes are on Şengal and everyone is trying to understand what is going on. The current escalation began on April 18 and continues to this day. However, it is necessary to understand what is at the root of the problems," the autonomous administration stated, warning of a new genocide in Yazidi history.

The statement referred to the 2014 genocide committed by ISIS and the flight of the Iraqi army and the Southern Kurdistan’s KDP peshmerga at that time: "As the Yazidi community, we were saved from this genocide thanks to the Freedom Guerrilla and the Rojava Revolution. In order for our people not to be exposed to another genocide, we have built an autonomous administrative and defense system. For this, great sacrifices have been made. In the meantime, eight years have passed and during that time not only Şengal was defended, but also the integrity of Iraq.”

"The October 9, 2020 agreement is the root cause of the problems"

The statement continued: "We have presented many projects for the clarification of Şengal's status over the past eight years and held numerous talks. In this process, we relied on the unity of Iraq and wanted to solve our problems within the framework of Iraqi legislation. The answer to our efforts was the dirty agreement of October 9, 2020, which was sealed between the Kadhimi government and the KDP under pressure from the Turkish state and with the agreement of international forces. This agreement is the starting point of today's problems. It encourages Turkey to attack Şengal, and the KDP invokes the agreement to return to the region. The Kadhimi government has sent troops to enforce the agreement and disband the self-administered security forces (Asayîşa Êzîdxanê).

"The target of the Turkish state is not only Şengal"

"In order to prevent the fighting from spreading, we as the autonomous administration have been looking for solutions in a broad framework. We appealed to Iraq and the public and held a series of talks both in Şengal and Baghdad. However, in these talks, the will of the Yazidi community, the autonomous administration and our self-defense forces were not respected. Attempts were made once again to force us to accept the October 9, 2020 agreement. Our people must know that during the last talks with the operational commanders of Şengal and Mosul, a solution was made impossible and the war policy was fueled," the autonomous administration said and appealed once again to all Iraqi forces not to get involved in the machinations of the KDP and Turkey: "The target of the Turkish state is not only Şengal. It wants to realize its neo-Ottoman dreams by starting a war in Iraq. We declare once again that we want to solve our problems within the unity of Iraq. At the same time, we demand respect for the Şengal autonomous administration and our self-defense forces. The Asayîşa Êzîdxanê and the YBŞ/YJŞ stand for the dignity of the Yazidi community."

“We also urge the Yazidi community to strengthen their unity more than ever before. Our society should be wary of the KDP’s and other parties' politics. It should unite around Shengal and its ideals. We should respond to all attacks with our unity and solidarity. We also urge international powers to withdraw their support for the 9 October agreement. Supporting this accord means agreeing to a new genocide to be suffered by the Yazidi people. The Yazidi community's genocide should no longer be tolerated, and genocidal attacks should be prevented,” the statement concluded.