The General Command of People’s Defense Units (YPG) released a statement marking 3 August, the ninth anniversary of the beginning of the ISIS genocide against the Yazidi population of the Shengal (Sinjar) region of southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq) in 2014.

Calling the Yazidi genocide one of the most tragic and traumatic massacres in human history, YPG stated: “The forces responsible for the Shengal region at the time, as well as all regional and international states remained blind, deaf and dumb about this genocide, which was a great shame not only for the region but the entire humanity. All world powers are responsible for defending the rights of the Yazidi community and supporting their freedom struggle to make sure that they are not subjected to similar massacres again.”

Pointing to the heroic resistance put up by the HPG (People’s Defense Forces), YPG (People’s Defense Units) and YPJ (Women’s Defense Units) to defend Shengal, YPG noted that young women and men in Shengal took part in the resistance alongside the YPG-YPJ fighters and prevented a terrible genocide.

The YPG stressed that the invading Turkish state seeks to complete the Yazidi genocide that ISIS left unfinished, calling on the international powers and states to intervene in the Turkish state that collaborates with ISIS and to call it to account.

The YPG statement concluded: “We will always stand with our Yazidi people as we did in the past and do today. In the event of an attack against our Yazidi people, we will take it as an attack directed against us and act accordingly. Our heroic martyrs entrusted us with the defence of Shengal.”