The Shengal Democratic Autonomous Council (MXDŞ) made a written statement on the third anniversary of the withdrawal of the People’s Defense Forces (HPG) and the Free Women’s Units (YJA Star) guerrillas from Shengal.

MXDŞ commemorated all the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the liberation of Shengal in the person of HPG commander martyr Egîd Civyan and martyr Dilşêr Herekol.

The statement includes the following:

"Iraqi military forces and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) abandoned Shengal and allowed women, children and all Yazidis to be attacked by ISIS gangs under the heat of summer. HPG and YJA Star guerrillas came to help the Yazidis and prevented a genocide. Thanks to the fighters and guerrillas, ISIS gangs and their allies could not achieve their goals to annihilate the Yazidis. The Yazidi community organized its military and administrative institutions after the liberation of Shengal.

Guerrilla forces withdrew from Shengal on April 1, 2018, under Iraqi supervision. HPG and YJA Star forces arrived to save the Yazidis from genocide. They did not aim to seize Shengal. The Yazidi community now has the power to protect all Shengal. The ideas and philosophy of Leader Abdullah Öcalan gave them the will and organization to protect themselves. The organized structure and will of the Yazidis offend the Turkish state. The KDP, on the other hand, seeks to separate Yazidis from each other and to bring Shengal under its control. The Turkish state is carrying out its plans through Iraqi PM Mustafa Al-Kadhimi. They want to complete the agreement they made on October 9 to massacre the Yazidis, which failed thanks to the guerrilla.

April 1 is a meaningful day for us. The Iraqi government gave a deadline until April 1 to purge the Autonomous Administration and its forces. April 1 denotes a plan to purge the Yazidi organization at the request of the Turkish state. As the Yazidi community, our decision is clear. We do not accept any option other than protecting the gains of our people.”