Yazidis rally for Shengal in Oldenburg

In Oldenburg, Lower Saxony, Yazidis demonstrated against Turkey’s threat of intervention in Shengal (Sinjar).

In Oldenburg, a three-day "Vigil for Peace and Against War" supported by Yazidi organizations concluded with a demonstration. The action, initiated by the umbrella organization of the Yazidi Women's Council (SMJÊ), protested against the Turkish state's threats of intervention against the Yazidi settlement area of Shengal in Southern Kurdistan.

The march kicked off from the Schlossplatz Square. The participants carried banners demanding autonomous status for Shengal and pictures of martyrs. Many brought flags of the Shengal’s Self-Defense Units (YBŞ/YJŞ) and other Yazidi organizations.

Speakers protested the agreement concluded last October at the instigation of Turkey between the Iraqi central government and the leadership of the South Kurdistan autonomous region, which provides for a restructuring of Shengal according to the interests of Ankara, Hewlêr and Baghdad and the accompanying dissolution of the self-governing structures.

The speakers emphasized that only the YBŞ and YJŞ were considered by the Yazidi community as a trustworthy defense force as well as a guarantor for a free life in Shengal. The Iraqi government was urged to recognize the Yazidi Self-Defense Forces as the official armed forces of Shengal and to stop denying the region autonomous status.