"They want to eliminate Yazidis with the Shengal agreement"

Responding to the Shengal agreement between Baghdad and Hewler, Shengal Council Officer Neam Bedel and Shengal Democratic Council co-chair Xezal Reşo stated that the achievements of the Yazidi people are meant to be eliminated with this agreement.

Reactions to the Shengal agreement between the Iraqi government and the KDP continue. Êzidxan Asayish (local Yazidi security force) has been carrying out a vigil action since 3 December to protest the deal.

Shengal Council officer Neam Bedel and Shengal Democratic Council co-chair Xezal Reşo gave information about the ongoing actions against the agreement.

Xezal Reşo said, "The main purpose is to target the Yazidi people and leave them face to face with a massacre. We do not and will not accept any decision taken on Shengal that does not consider the will of the Yazidi people. We, Yazidis, are no longer the old Yazidis. We want to enjoy our rights freely like every other people and beliefs in the world.”

Reşo continued; “As we said, our main demand is to be able to make our own decisions in local governments, but to remain centrally dependent on the Iraqi government. If this is accepted, our people can return to their own lands and live freely.”

Shengal Council Officer Neam Bedel, who started her speech by celebrating the resistance of the Yazidi people, recalled that the Shengal people have been protesting for 9 days against the agreement between the Iraqi central government and the KDP.

Noting that the agreement was made under the supervision of United Nations (UN) Special Envoy to Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, Bedel said, "Plasschaert should come and listen to the women living in Shengal and see the women's assembly.”

Bedel added: "They must make an alliance with the women here, not with Hewler. They cannot solve the problems of the Shengal people by forming alliances with Kazimî, Erdogan's spokesperson or Barzani.

With this agreement, they want to enslave the Yazidi people once again and destroy all their achievements. As Yazidis, we will never allow such a thing and we will stand against it. Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert should do something to save the Yazidi women and children, who are in the hands of ISIS, instead of sitting down with the traitors and making an alliance."