The Afrin Canton Yazidi Union, Jazira Canton Yazidi House and the German Syrian Yazidi Community held a press conference at the Serdem Camp in Shehba.

In the press statement, the Yazidi organisations called on the international public opinion to take a stance against the threats of occupation issued by the Turkish state against the people of Northern and Eastern Syria.

The statement said: “Turkey said immediately after the US announcement [that they would pull out of Syria] that they would occupy the lands of Kurds. This is a statement that shows the real mentality of Turkey. Turkey does not consider DAESH as a terrorist organization. However it fights against the democratic forces under the SDF and against the Kurdish, Arab, Syriac and Turkmen people.”

The statement then pointed out to the dangers for the Yazidi people and the situation they are living in: “Our villages became the center of the terror groups. They're forcing our people to go the mosques they opened in the villages. They impose Islam on women and girls. They changed the name of our villages.”

The statement ends with a call to the whole world to fill up their responsibilities and stand up against the Turkish policies of war against the people of the region.

The Yazidi organisations also called for the closure of the Syrian airspace and for the Syrian regime to protect the borders.