Sozdar Avesta of the Presidential Council of the KCK (Kurdistan Communities Union) calls on Iraqi authorities to fully investigate the airstrikes on the Yazidi settlement area Shengal (Sinjar) in southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq). The targeted bombings by the Turkish Air Force were possible only with informants on the ground and contained a message to both Iraq and the Yazidi community, Avesta told ANF.

On Tuesday, an air strike by the Turkish Air Force on a hospital in Shengal killed eight people and injured four others. The victims include four fighters from the Shengal Resistance Units (YBŞ) and four hospital employees. When people from the surrounding area tried to help those buried under the rubble, they were also attacked from the air.

The Sikêniyê hospital, which was completely destroyed by several bombings, treated among others those injured in Monday's targeted drone attack on the vehicle of YBŞ commander Seîd Hesen (Saeed Hassan). Hesen had been on his way to a face-to-face meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi when his car was bombed in the Old City of Shengal. The attack also killed his nephew, Îsa Xwedêda and injured three others.

Sêid Hesen: His people's mouthpiece, lawyer, politician and diplomat

Sozdar Avesta said that this was neither the first nor the last attack by the Turkish state on the Yazidi people: "In order to expel the people from Shengal and to prevent the return of the Yazidis who have fled, such attacks have been taking place for years. Heval Sêid has not let himself be intimidated by this and has worked continuously for his people. That is why he has been targeted by the Turkish state. When ISIS invaded Shengal in 2014, he resisted shoulder to shoulder with the twelve HPG fighters. He fought against the mercenaries, took on leadership roles, did educational work to create awareness among his people, and co-founded the Shengal Democratic Council in 2015. Until his death, he was the mouthpiece, advocate, politician and diplomat of his people. The fact that the Yazidis are fighting for democracy, freedom and equal coexistence in Shengal today is thanks to Heval Sêid and the other martyrs. If he and the Hebabiya tribe had not participated in the struggle, the entire Yazidi people would have had to leave Shengal. So it was a targeted attack and the timing was also planned. It was the day when the Iraqi Prime Minister was going to visit Shengal for the first time. The attack was carried out by the fascist Turkish state, but the traitors in the region played a big role in it. The Iraqi authorities must clarify who was involved. It was an attack on Iraqi sovereignty at the same time."

An attack on the coexistence of peoples in Iraq

Sozdar Avesta sees the attacks as a result of the agreement on the future of Shengal concluded under international supervision between Baghdad and Hewlêr (Erbil) on October 9, 2020: "The attacks send the message: Either you accept the agreement or massacres will take place. This is how the agreement is to be implemented. And what is this agreement about? Shengal is to be depopulated, the people are to be deprived of their own will, they are to be expelled from Shengal. Therefore, the Yazidi people will never accept this agreement and will resist to the utmost.

It should be clear to the Iraqi state that these latest attacks have also been directed against the demand for peaceful coexistence among the peoples of Iraq. The bombed hospital treated Yazidi and Arab people, and two of those killed were Arab YBŞ fighters."

The response from the people to the attacks has been unequivocal, Avesta continued, "They have signaled to Iraq, the U.S., the UN and all the forces in the region that want to wipe out the Yazidis that they have nothing left to lose. In the last seven years, the Yazidi people have organized themselves and finally destroyed the chains of slavery. It's not like before, it's organized and strong, it has its own defense forces, and there are women fighting in leading positions."