The General Command of the Shengal Resistance Units (YBŞ) made a statement warning of an Islamist advance in the region following the attack by the terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) on the Syrian city of Aleppo. YBŞ said that the people must guard against all dangers posed by Turkish-coordinated attacks to prevent a repeat of the 2014 genocide against the Yazidi community.

The statement released by YBŞ on Saturday said:

“As it is known, there has been a great war and conflict in the region for some time and this situation is gradually expanding. In particular, the recent events in Syria give the message that the war will not end easily.

There is no doubt that this war concerns us and our people closely. What is happening in Aleppo today reminds us of what happened in 2014. Analysing the developments independently of ourselves would mean falling into ignorance. We, the defence forces and the people, must urgently review our situation and be prepared for all developments and dangers. We should be well aware that the main reason why we faced massacres in 2014 was because we believed that others would defend us. However, we now have experience, and this experience was not easy to gain and resulted in a great genocide.

The Turkish state is the enemy of all peoples in the region. It is especially hostile to the Yazidi community. It wants to design the region according to its own interests in order to realise its dreams of Neo-Ottomanism. The Turkish state has mobilised its gangs and wants to deepen the war even more. Of course, the eyes of the Turkish state are also on the regions we live in and on our lands.

On this basis, we invite our people to be sensitive and to approach the process with great seriousness and sensitivity. Our tribes, communities and leaders in particular should be prepared. We also invite different Yazidi forces to recognise these historic moments and to defend our land and our honour shoulder to shoulder.

We also call on our youth to stand up for the duties and responsibilities of the Yazidi faith and to join the ranks of the YBŞ and YJŞ (Shengal Women’s Units) to defend their honour.

There should be no doubt that we are ready to defend every inch of land in Shengal and Iraq and that we have the power of experience.”