Shengal: From mourning to a new life

Despite the great persecution, the people of Shengal is returning to their lands to rebuild their life. These lands teach the people to resist, to turn pain into anger.

The people of Shengal, who were forced to flee their lands with the so called 73rd genocide, are now returning home. Shengal and its villages, towns, hamlets are starting to come to life with the return of the people. The living spaces that ISIS had turned into ruins were left without human life, with an atmosphere of permanent mourning. These lands and people resisted the killers and turn pain into anger.

In the town of Xanesor, it is possible to see the traces of the latest genocide [carried out by ISIS in August 2014] in all streets and all glances. The people of Shengal learn to hold on to their lands by growing their anger against their enemy with their pain.

The people see the spaces in which they organize themselves as something crucial because they are aware that organization is essential for survival. The People's Assembly is one of these spaces. At the entrance of the parliament building, posters of Kurdish people's leaders Abdullah Öcalan and Mam Zeki draw attention. Again, the translation of a poem written by the Kurdish people's leader into Kurmanji is in the parliament building.

The people of Xanesor draw attention to a feverish pace of work every day. Repairing ruined life is considered a part of the struggle.

Children give colour to life in Xanesor. Xanesor Park is like the heart of children; the place where they laugh despite all odds.