The Yazidi town of Shengal (Sinjar), which was subjected to genocide by ISIS mercenaries on August 3, 2014, was liberated on November 13, 2015, after months of resistance led by HPG guerrillas and Shengal Resistance Units (YBŞ). The people of Shengal formed their self-defence and self-government as the greatest response to further massacres and betrayal in Shengal.

Having declared its Democratic Autonomous Administration, Shengal became the target of both the Turkish state and South Kurdistan’s ruling party, KDP. While armed groups affiliated with the KDP and the Turkish army launched attacks in 2017, the central Iraqi government also resorted to various methods to eliminate the autonomy in Shengal.

On 15 August, 2018, İsmail Özden (Mam Zeki Şengali) fell martyr in a targeted operation conducted by the Turkish state and its local collaborators on 15 August 2018. On 16 August 2021, the Turkish state targeted the vehicle of YBŞ Commander Seîd Hesen in the old bazaar in Shengal downtown at noon. Seîd Hesen Seîd and his nephew Îsa Xweda, who was a YBŞ fighter, were killed, and three other people were injured.

The Turkish state carried out airstrikes on the Sikêniyê Hospital in Shengal on August 17, 2021, killing eight people and injuring more than 20 others. The Ministry of Justice of Turkey asserted that 10 PKK members had been "neutralized" in the airstrikes. 

Shengal Resistance Units (YBŞ) and Shengal Women’s Units (YJŞ) held a ceremony to commemorate the martyrs who fell in the month of August, in the person of Mam Zeki Şengali, Seid Hesen and victims of the Sikêniyê Hospital attack.

Speaking on behalf of the YBŞ-YJŞ Command, Xelil Ereb said: “We have been through many massacres and great losses. ISIS gangs attacked our people in Shengal in August. The Yazidi community, which suffered 73 fermans in their history, were subjected to the 74th at the hands of fascist ISIS gangs.”

Ferman is the term the Yazidis use to refer to the massacres and extermination operations in their history. While in Ottoman usage the term stands for a decree of the Sultan, in the Yazidi community the word took on the denotation of persecutions and pogroms. The genocide and femicide that began with the rout of the KDP peshmerga and the ISIS invasion of Shengal on 3 August was the 74th ferman in Yazidi history.

Referring to the role of Mam Zeki among the Yazidi and Arab people, Xelil Ereb stated: “The betrayal targeted Mam Zeki Şengali on 15 August 2018. Mam Zeki, a symbol of revolution, was martyred. After the genocide, he fought against the conflicts created by ISIS in society and made huge efforts to rebuild the social structure destroyed by ISIS and their collaborators. Mam Zeki was highly respected and appreciated by both the Yazidi and Arab people. He was a powerful bridge between the two communities, which is why we must strengthen this bridge even more today.”

Xelil Ereb also paid tribute to Seîd Hesen and said: “He was a brave commander who played a major role in preventing the migration of people. Like Mam Zeki, he was also targeted by the Turkish state. We follow in their footsteps and will never back away, whatever the cost. On the contrary, we will advance further every day. As the YBŞ and YJŞ, we fight in this holy land to realize the goals and dreams of Mam Zeki, Seid, Dijwar, Zerdeşt, Mahir Teyawî and our martyrs who fell in the Turkish attack on Sikeniyê. They are the light on our path and the torch of freedom. It is thanks to our martyrs that we live freely on our land today. We will continue our struggle and avenge them.”

Xelil Ereb continued: “Amidst the increasingly ongoing attacks of the enemy, we remember our martyrs on the occasion of 15 August. We also extend our thanks and greetings to the freedom guerrillas who came to our rescue from the mountains and saved us from genocide. Those freedom fighters saved us from ISIS and protected our land and honour. Thanks to their self-sacrifice, we can govern ourselves today without placing reliance on anyone. As all the components in Shengal, we will enhance our struggle by embracing the ideas and philosophy of Leader Abdullah Öcalan. The enemy seeks to restore its power here but we, the defense forces, will not allow it. Everyone should struggle for a free Shengal and a democratic Iraq. We thank the states that support Shengal and we warn those that attack Shengal that they cannot avoid the sun of freedom.”

The ceremony concluded with the slogans Bijî Serok Apo’ (Long Live Leader Öcalan) and ‘Bê Serok Jiyan Nabe’’ (No Life Without the Leader).