“Sinjar this year did not celebrate the Yazidi Festival/Eid* as in the past. The festival was last Friday, but the Yazidis did not light firewood/kindling wood, did not sing songs together, did not wear Eid clothes, did not visit each other on Eid, did not give Eid gifts to their children this year,” writes Seydi Fırat for the daily Yeni Yaşam.

Yazidis were mourning in Sinjar. This was a mourning for the Yazidi people’s leader Merwan Bedeli, who was martyred in the Turkish drone attack on 7 December. It was a protest against his assassination and with a common attitude and in solidarity with Merwan Bedeli and each other, they paid their respects to the martyr once again and revealed to the world how they embrace their leaders.

The attacks on Sinjar and on the Yazidi people continue, and the message given to the Yezidis is, “You may have survived the ISIS genocide but we cannot tolerate that: we cannot accept that.”

Based on this intolerance, Turkey bombs hospitals during their attacks on Sinjar, kills people, kills civilians in Sinjar.

The main purpose of the strategy and the alliance of these attacks is to liquidate the autonomous democratic will of the Yazidis, who first defeated the ISIS and annulled the massacre, and immediately afterwards focused on preserving the existence of the Yazidis and securing their future.

The Sinjar Agreement, signed on 9 October 2020, is an agreement aimed at destroying the will of the Yazidis. With the imposition of Turkey, this agreement came about when the KDP [Kurdistan Democratic Party] stood against the will of the Yazidis.

The Yazidi people’s attitude that came out in the form of resistance has resulted in the failure of the strategies to liquidate them.

The attackers’ response to that has been to assassinate Yazidi leaders, instigate internal conflict with economic embargoes, threats and attempted invasions, and continue their attacks with other inhumane practices.

They assassinated Merwan Bedeli, the co-chair of the Sinjar Autonomous Administration’s executive council. On 16 August, they again killed the commander and fighter of the Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS) Seîd Hesen by a drone attack. Both were personalities who took upon themselves the pain, longing, hope and struggle for existence of the Yezidis.

The Yazidi people commemorate the efforts, struggles and leadership of these leaders with great respect and express their loyalty now.

The Yazidi people and their representatives point out that these attacks were based on the support of the KDP as they did not take place without the knowledge, nor the intelligence support, of the KDP forces.

It is evident that the KDP’s anti-Yazidi policy has caused great destruction in Sinjar. The greatest destruction had occurred when they gave way to the ISIS massacre of Yazidis in Sinjar, which was under the control of the KDP at the time. The KDP left the Yazidis defenceless against the ISIS assault.

It is extremely destructive and perilious that the KDP is so involved with the Turkish government’s anti- Kurdish, anti-Yazidi policy. It is expressed at the highest level that the assassination of Merwan Bedeli took place on the basis of such cooperation.

Unless Kurdish public opinion, Kurdish political movements, intellectuals and other social and societal dynamics exhibit an impressive and strong stance against this, the KDP will persist in its approach.