It has been 4 years since ISIS enacted a massacre against the Yazidi people in Shengal on August 3, 2014, but the wound is still fresh. Thousands of Yazidis were killed in ISIS attacks, thousands of others were abducted, and thousands of Yazidi women were sold in slave markets. There are also thousands of Yazidi women whose fate is still unknown.

Shengal Women’s Union (YJŞ) fighters spoke to RojNews for the 4th anniversary of the massacre and said they will avenge all the Yazidi people who were abducted, exiled and murdered.

THEY WANTED TO COMPLETELY DESTROY THE YAZIDIS

YJŞ fighter Havîn Şengal: First, I remember those who fought the massacre and fell martyr. There was a ruthless massacre against the Yazidi people in Shengal on August 3. There was a sudden attack in the middle of the night, and thousands were killed before people could figure out what was going on. Children who fled to the Shengal mountains didn’t have even one glass of water. The people sought refuge in the mountains to defend themselves, but thousands fell to the hands of the gangs, who wanted to completely destroy the Yazidi people and abducted women and girls. The women threw themselves off cliffs to avoid that fate, some hanged themselves.

“OUR HOPE WAS REBORN”

We saw the truth of our enemies in the massacre in Shengal. We saw this truth that they managed to hide for years very clearly. Children were killed in front of their mothers, women were sold in slave markets. Despite everything that happened, a new hope was born in Shengal. Every day we fight to be stronger with this new hope. Those with power attack everywhere to end the Kurdish people. In Afrin, in Southern Kurdistan and anywhere Kurds are present, the attacks continue.

We resist these attacks against the Kurdish people with the resistance we cultivated with the ideas of Leader Apo. As YJŞ fighters, we will do whatever is necessary so the Yazidi people won’t suffer another massacre. We promised our people to protect them no matter what.

YAZIDIS SUBJECTED TO MANY MASSACRES

YJŞ fighter İmralî Öcalan: The Yazidi people must learn from the genocide that befell them and recognize the truth of the enemy. The Yazidi faith goes back a long way, and has been unable to defend itself despite having suffered many massacres. The gangs who killed Yazidis wanted to destroy their future as well through the massacre of children.

WE WILL AVENGE THE YAZIDIS

The Yazidi massacre caused great pains. Thousands of children were massacred, thousands of others were orphaned, women were sold in slave markets. They wanted to completely destroy the Yazidi people. But the will that emerged birthed a new hope for the Yazidi people. Fighters who protected their people through resistance and struggle birthed a new hope. This was a good response to the massacre.

As the YJŞ, we will avenge the abducted and murdered Yazidi women. And the Yazidi women themselves must recognize their own reality and increase their struggle. We will avenge them through organizing women, through resistance and through making the truth known, and we will give the necessary response. For us to succeed, Yazidi youth and women must take their place in the struggle and always resist.

TO AVOID ANOTHER MASSACRE EVER AGAIN

YJŞ fighter Zîn Şengal: The purpose of this genocide was to completely annihilate the Yazidi people. This genocide also revealed the truth about who the enemies and allies are. HPG guerrillas and the people of Rojava gave great support. This has continued to this day. The Yazidi people formed their own forces to avoid another massacre ever again. Leader Apo’s ideas disseminated quite well among the Yazidi people and took on a life of their own. Our defense forces are there to protect the people’s values and culture, and to defend them. The Yazidi people will never surrender and will do whatever is necessary to avoid another massacre.