Amid increased military activity around Şengal (SInjar, Iraq) and renewed regional tension following statements by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Ezidis in the region have made their position clear. Their security, rights, and collective future cannot once again be treated as secondary considerations.
Representatives and local leaders gathered in Şengal to address developments that could weaken the defense structures established after the 2014 genocide carried out by ISIS. Central to the discussions were reports about efforts to dismantle local Ezidi defense units and to reassign Ezidi members serving in Hashdi Shabi formations away from their homeland.
From the standpoint of Ezidi rights, this is not an administrative matter. It is a question of survival. In 2014, when ISIS attacked Şengal, the Iraqi state failed to prevent genocide, mass killings, enslavement, and forced displacement. The right of Ezidis to ensure their own protection is rooted in that reality. Local defense structures emerged because state protection collapsed at the most critical moment.
International law recognizes the right of peoples to protection and to self determination. For Ezidis, whose faith is Sharfadin and whose presence in Şengal stretches back centuries, self determination includes meaningful control over local security and the ability to prevent renewed mass violence. These are not abstract principles. They are safeguards against repetition of genocide.
Any attempt to dissolve Ezidi defense forces without guaranteeing effective and trusted protection creates a dangerous vacuum. If Iraqi federal authorities are unwilling or unable to secure Şengal in practice, they cannot deny Ezidis the right to organize for their own safety.
At the same time, no external actor has the authority to interfere in these efforts. This includes Turkey. Cross border military pressure or political intervention that undermines locally rooted protection structures directly threatens a population that has already endured genocide. The security interests of other states do not override the fundamental rights of Ezidis to live safely in their ancestral homeland.
Mount Şengal is not only a geographic location. It is a sacred and historical symbol for Ezidis and for Sharfadin. For centuries it has served as a place of refuge during persecution. Any intervention that destabilizes this area is experienced as a threat to identity and existence.
The position emerging from Şengal is clear. The events of 2014 must never be repeated. Protection is a right. Self determination is a right. Ezidis have the right to remain in Şengal in safety, to maintain the structures that protect them, and to decide their future without coercion from any side.
