ISTANBUL - Stating that Turkey committed a war crime by bombing a health institution in Shengal, HDK said: ‘’We are embracing the demand of the Yazidi people to be granted autonomous status as a result of their pursuit for a free life in their own geography within the framework of international law and universal principles.’’

 

The Executive Board of the Peoples’ Democratic Congress (HDK) made a statement regarding the bombing of a health center in the Sikêniyê village of Shengal on 17 August by Turkish warplanes. In the written statement, it was stated that the bombing of the hospital is indication that the genocide policy of ISIS against the Yazidis is continued by the hands of Turkey.

 

Pointing out that the attacks on Shengal are the continuation of the historical genocide policies against Yazidis, the statement said: ‘’The Yazidi people have put up a historical resistance with their struggle against ISIS, which has turned the Middle East into a place of fire with a blind darkness. These attacks, which threaten the rights and existence of the Yazidi people, are the continuation of the ISIS mentality.’’

 

War crime

 

In the statement, it was pointed out that the attack launched in the middle of the bazaar, the center of civilians' daily life, reached a different dimension with the bombing of the health center, and the following statements were used: ‘’In addition to being one of the biggest crimes morally, a crime has been committed by violating the rules determined by national and international laws and agreements. The Geneva Convention on the Law of War, which aims to guarantee the lives of civilians and the public's access to health services under war conditions, has been violated. In this sense, the bombing of the hospital, which is forbidden to be targeted militarily, and this attack, which caused the death of eight civilians, is a war crime that should be prosecuted.’’

 

‘Status should be embrace’

 

The followings were included in the statement, which stated that the reactionary dominants were responsible for the massacres against the Yazidi people: ‘’The states that provided the ground for this and did not fulfill their responsibilities while Turkey was a perpetrator and dark power groups are responsible for this massacre. In the face of all this organized evil, the responsibility of solidarity with the Yazidi people belongs to all of us. We condemn the attacks against the Yazidi people. We call to the peoples of Turkey and the world to show solidarity with the Yazidi people so that such attacks do not happen again. We are embracing the demand of the Yazidi people to be granted autonomous status as a result of their pursuit for a free life in their own geography within the framework of international law and universal principles.’’