NEWS CENTER - Pointing out that the attacks against Shengal and Makhmur are linked plans, PADÊ member Qehtan Xelîl said: "We will not let this plan pass."

 

The attacks against Ezidis continue after the "Shengal Agreement" signed between the Iraqi Government and the Federated Kurdistan Regional Government on October 9, 2020, under pressure from Turkey. The Ezidis have been resisting for two years against this agreement, which was signed against their will. KDP-affiliated forces and the Iraqi Army, who want to implement the agreement in question, continue their attacks on Shengal. Turkey, which stepped in after the attacks of Hewler and Baghdad were inconclusive, started air strikes against the region. Targeting the region with an Armed Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (drone) on May 16, Turkey attacked the village of Xelef in Shengal on May 23.

 

Qehtan Xelîl, a member of the Yazidi Freedom and Democracy Party (PADÊ), made evaluations about the plans for Shengal and Turkey's attacks.

 

'AGREEMENT DID NOT ACHIEVE ITS PURPOSE'

 

Stating that the 'Shengal Agreement' signed between Iraq and the Federal Kurdistan Regional Government did not achieve its purpose and that different policies were put into effect after that, Xelîl said:  "The Êzidîs did not take part in this agreement, nor did they receive their approval. It is to put the agreement into practice. We were massacred in front of the Iraqi and Kurdistan government in 2014. The Kurdistan government very openly turned its back on the Ezidis, could not protect them, and the whole world witnessed this. How can we accept these people who killed 3 thousand Ezidis here? The Ezidis need to stay away from these and plan themselves against them."

  

SUPPORT TO MAKHMUR RESISTANCE

 

Referring to the ongoing popular resistance in Makhmur, Xelîl said: “The people of Makhmur have also been fighting against these policies for years and demand their rights. Makhmur and Shengal are subject to more persecution because they resist. We stand by the Makhmur people and support their resistance. Besides, now is the time for the Shengal people to return to their own lands. Their homes may have been destroyed, but they can come and live here by pitching a tent on their own land. These attacks and interventions are carried out so that our people do not return to their lands. We do not think that these attacks were carried out without the knowledge of the Iraqi and Kurdistan government. For this reason, the Ezidis living in the camps must return to Shengal. Whatever happens, we must stand together."