In a recent statement, the 17th Office of South Kurdistan’s ruling party, KDP, claimed that no power other than the KDP could defend the Yazidi homeland Şengal in northern Iraq.

The 15th Office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) released a response to the KDP statement on Wednesday, saying the following:

“You remarked in your statement that the people of Şengal know best who shed blood and defended Şengal during the ISIS onslaught. The truth is that you and your Şengal office were responsible for the ISIS attacks. You vowed that you would defend Şengal with 12 thousand peshmerga troops, but withdrew your forces without firing a single bullet when the ISIS aggression began. Your official for Şengal stated that they would not leave Şengal no matter what. However, your forces fled before everyone else. You left the civilian population into the hands of ISIS. The people of Şengal know that the KDP handed Şengal over to ISIS,” the PUK statement said.

“You also mentioned the liberation of Şengal. The truth is that the PUK had transferred many weapons and ammunition to Şengal via Rojava. So far, the PUK has not halted supporting and helping Şengal. We supported the liberation of Şengal in close cooperation with the people of Şengal. 111 of our peshmerga fighters fell as martyrs in this process,” it continued.

The PUK stated that the KDP put pressure on the Yazidis in Şengal during the early general elections in Iraq, noting that the KDP threatened to evacuate the Yazidis from the camps if they did not vote in favour of the KDP.

The statement pointed out that the people of Şengal should be enabled to return to their homeland.