The situation in Shengal and the Yazidi community, which suffered a brutal massacre in 2014, has once again come to the fore. Both within the Yazidi community and in public opinion, the memory of past decrees of extermination remains vivid, and many see and feel that in this period of regional reconfiguration, the Yazidis may once again be facing the threat of a new genocide.
Just as the ISIS was unleashed onto the ground following a meeting held in June 2014 in Amman, the capital of Jordan, and the region was violently reshaped through large-scale atrocities, similar meetings and agreements are now said to be back on the agenda. At a time when the Syrian arena has been handed over to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), and plans for interventions against Iraq and Iran are being discussed, the situation of Shengal and the Yazidi community is unfolding at an extremely sensitive and critical juncture.
The current developments are undoubtedly linked to broader regional dynamics. Plans and maneuvers targeting Rojava, described as a “second February 15 conspiracy,” are seen as amounting to the continuation of genocidal attempts on the ground in Shengal. The situation in Shengal is therefore neither local nor temporary; it reflects the initial phase of a strategic program grounded in regional designs.
The aim is to leave the people of Shengal defenseless
As widely reported in the press, the Iraqi army has significantly increased its activity in the Shengal area, particularly following statements by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. While this mobilization has partly been framed as border security along the Syria–Iraq line, it has in effect revealed a military posture that fully encircles Shengal.
Attempts to establish new military checkpoints in the inner areas of Shengal, and to launch a disarmament campaign in Shengal at a time when threats against the region are intensifying, are not about protecting Shengal or the Yazidi community. On the contrary, they amount to leaving the people of Shengal defenseless.
For this very reason, the people of Shengal have stated that they will not hand over their self-defense to anyone, as they are fully aware of this policy and the dangers it will produce.
The historical memory of the Yazidi community remains vivid. In 1973–74, during the period of Saddam Hussein, the Yazidis were disarmed and subsequently removed from their mountain villages and resettled in collective camps on the plains known as “mujamma’at.” Prior to the 2014 genocide, the means of defense of the Yazidi community were again taken away by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Iraqi army, after which the attacks by the ISIS began.
At a time when the entire Syrian and Iraqi arenas are in turmoil, tens of thousands of Salafist groups are being mobilized, and Mount Shengal, one of the most strategic points on the Syria–Iraq border, is being deprived of defense, it is necessary to recognize that the consequences of such steps will be extremely grave.
The steps imposed by the Turkish state, accepted to a certain extent by Iraq, and put into practice within a broader planning framework essentially amount to the disarmament of Shengal’s self-defense forces, namely the Shengal Resistance Units and the Women’s Shengal Resistance Units, as well as the internal security forces (Asayish). They also aim to disperse the Shengal defense forces through various methods and to leave Shengal and the Yazidi community without protection. Should this occur, it is calculated that the democratic institutions built by the Yazidi community with immense effort and sacrifice in the aftermath of the genocide would also be dismantled.
The fundamental objective, therefore, is to render Shengal without self-defense and without self-administration, making it vulnerable once again to new genocidal attacks. Reports in the press describing “raids on homes by the Iraqi army and the collection of weapons” do not concern individual firearms. Rather, they serve to create a social basis for a plan to disarm Shengal’s self-defense forces and dismantle the self-defense structure, while concealing the true aim by presenting it as if “there are unregistered weapons in homes, and the Iraqi army is merely collecting and registering them.”
Iraq seeks to sacrifice Shengal to dirty bargains
Gang activity has intensified along the Syria–Iraq border, while tens of thousands of forces, from remnants of the former Baath structure to Sunni Salafist groups, are being organized inside Iraq for possible mobilization in the period ahead. In this context, efforts to dismantle Shengal’s self-defense forces amount to an attempt to complete the 2014 genocide.
Instead of accounting to the Shengal community for its responsibility in the 2014 genocide, and while still refusing to recognize that genocide, the Iraqi state is creating the grounds for new attacks. Certain actors within the current Iraqi government and the army are seeking to sacrifice Shengal to dirty calculations and bargains.
At present, Shengal is under the potential threat of tens of thousands of Sunni Salafist groups, while also being encircled by the Iraqi army. The current deployment of the Iraqi army in Shengal is in no way aimed at protecting the Yazidi community or the people of Shengal. If that were the case, Shengal would not be subjected to such a tight blockade, nor would there be attempts to dismantle the self-defense forces that have protected Shengal at great cost from the time of the genocide to the present.
When Iraq itself is under such grave threat and Baghdad is effectively under siege, what sense does it make to lay siege to Shengal? Rather than encircling Shengal, Iraq should cooperate with Shengal’s self-defense forces, the Shengal Resistance Units, the Women’s Shengal Resistance Units, and the internal security forces, recognize their legitimacy, and act jointly against all threats. The current policy of besieging Shengal clearly serves as a dangerous plan.
Has the Iraqi state endorsed this plan, or are certain circles within the government and the army attempting to implement it in coordination with the Turkish state? The answers to these questions are expected to become clearer in the near future.
There has also been an intensification of activities by the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) in the field, as well as operations carried out jointly by the Iraqi state and the Turkish state on the ground. In recent weeks, MIT activities in the Mosul area, with Bashiqah (Başîqa) as their main hub, have increased. Members of MIT have reportedly contacted certain individuals in Shengal by phone, particularly those working in the Autonomous Administration and democratic institutions, making various offers and attempting to coerce them into acting as agents.
In addition, psychological operations targeting the population are being conducted through special warfare media outlets. For instance, images generated using artificial intelligence, falsely suggesting that the Turkish army will establish a military base on Mount Shengal, have been circulated. In other words, alongside military and intelligence activities, special warfare tools are also being deployed against Shengal.
A Yazidi renaissance beyond genocide
In the face of all these threats and schemes, the Yazidi community has repeatedly voiced its stance of resistance and determination. As attempts are made to reenact 2014, Yazidis say, “We, as Yazidis, are no longer the defenseless and unorganized Yazidis of that period.” In other words, the Yazidi community underscores that it possesses a certain level of consciousness, resolve, and determination to stand against these plots and conspiracies. The will to defend their land, faith, culture, and institutions remains strong among Yazidis. The people of Shengal have made clear that they will not accept the current plans, that they will defend their land, and that they will not remain defenseless and unorganized as they once were.
The Shengal Autonomous Administration has also declared that, with the aim of thwarting the plans of the Turkish state, it seeks to develop dialogue and solution-oriented negotiations with the Iraqi state and government, and that certain initiatives are currently under way on this basis. While the Yazidi community of Shengal has expressed its readiness to resolve existing administrative, political, and military issues within the framework of the Iraqi Constitution, it is the Iraqi state that continues to keep Shengal outside the law and to deny Yazidi rights.
The coming days will show whether Iraq, which abandoned Shengal to the ISIS in 2014, will once again leave the Yazidi community exposed to genocidal attacks, or whether it will finally recognize the Yazidi community’s fundamental rights, foremost among them the right to self-defense.
Whatever the outcome, the Yazidi community, with all its institutions and structures, will oppose any plan of genocide and will not allow itself to be dragged once again into the grip of extermination. As Abdullah Öcalan has said, “The Yazidis will flow from genocide toward a Yazidi renaissance.”
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