A new history led by women

 

Derya Ceylan

 

NEWS CENTER - 11 years have passed since the edict in Sinjar. Massacre, resistance and reconstruction have turned into a new history led by women. 

 

On the morning of August 3, 2014, ISIS attacked the city of Sinjar (Sinjar) in Iraq's Nineveh province. This attack was the beginning of a great genocide that will be known as the “74th edict” in the history of the Yazidi people. The Iraqi army and the Peshmerga forces of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) withdrew from the area shortly before the conflict began. Thousands of civilians were left completely defenseless.

 

The ISIS offensive was not only a military offensive, but also a religious and ethnic extermination operation. Men were executed, women and children were kidnapped and massacred. The Yazidi people were told to “convert to Islam or die.” Women were systematically raped and enslaved. Hundreds of civilians were massacred in villages such as Koço, Hardan and Qiniyeh. In Koço alone, on August 15, around 80 men were executed and women and children were kidnapped to be sold in slave markets.

 

The siege of Mount Sinjar: Resistance for survival

 

Thousands of Yazidis tried to escape by fleeing to Mount Sinjar. But they were stranded on the mountain for days without food, water or medical aid. Hunger, thirst and heat caused the deaths of thousands of people. On August 7-8, 2014, the US began airstrikes after the PKK fighters were the first to go to their aid and then under pressure from the international community. On August 9, direct strikes were launched against ISIS targets in the region. The international coalition of the US, UK, France, Australia and Australia provided food and water aid from the air.

 

On the one hand, this attack became one of the biggest traumas for the Yazidi community, but on the other hand, it turned into a period in which the idea of self-defense took its first steps.

 

The birth of self-defense: The intervention of the PKK, YPG and YPJ

 

YPG, YPJ and HPG forces from Rojava played a critical role in breaking the attacks. Between August 9-13, 2014, Mount Sinjar was reached and an evacuation corridor was created for civilians. The arrival of women fighters on the scene created a transformation not only militarily but also ideologically. Women were no longer just trying to survive, but became the founders of self-defense. This process paved the way for the formation of the Sinjar Women's Union (YJŞ).

 

2015-2016: Liberation of the city and women's organizing

 

On November 13, 2015, the city center of Sinjar was completely liberated from ISIS. However, after the physical liberation, the region had to be rebuilt psychologically, socially and culturally. The new structure rising among the rubble was realized under the leadership of women. YBŞ (Shengal Resistance Units) and YJŞ became effective in the field. In 2016, with the official establishment of the YJŞ, women's self-defense became institutionalized.

 

Women are no longer just figures carrying weapons, but bearers of justice, memory and reconstruction. The YJŞ was founded as a political subject against rape, enslavement and violence against women.

 

2017: Establishment of the Democratic Autonomous Assembly

 

In 2017, the Democratic Autonomous Council of Sinjar was declared. The Kurdish Freedom Movement's model of self-governance was put into practice here as well. With co-presidency, communes and people's assemblies, Shengal started to establish its own system. Women directly participated in decision-making processes with equal representation. They assumed a founding role not only in military defense but also in civil administration.

 

Nujiyan Erhan's testimony from Sinjar

 

Journalist Nujiyan Erhan (Tuba Akyılmaz), who went to the region to document the developments in the aftermath of the ISIS attacks in Sinjar and to document the resistance of the Yazidi people, was seriously wounded in the head on March 3, 2017 when she was fired upon by KDP-affiliated “Roj Peshmerga” while covering news in Xanesor. The danger of practicing journalism in this period, which coincided with the post-ISIS tension in the region, was once again exposed. Nujiyan Erhan died in Hesekê Hospital on March 22, 2017. Nujiyan Erhan, one of the most important names in Kurdish women's journalism, was murdered while witnessing the struggle of Yazidi women in Sinjar. His name remains in the memory of Sinjar as the voice of both the search for truth and the free press.

 

2019: The beginning of the struggle for justice

 

Although the physical structure of ISIS collapsed, unhealed traumas were left behind. Thousands of Yazidis were still missing. Trials were opened against ISIS gangs in countries like Germany, France and Iraq. Some perpetrators were sentenced for “genocide” for the first time with the testimonies of Yazidi women. However, women's organizations stated that these processes did not recognize “genocide against women” and remained incomplete.

 

2020: The Sinjar Agreement and the danger of new attacks 

 

The Shingal Agreement signed between the Iraqi Central Government and the Kurdistan Regional Government envisaged the liquidation of self-defense structures. This was evaluated by the people of Sinjar as a new tutelage attempt. Women reacted against this agreement by saying “We came back from death, we will not give up freedom easily."

 

2021: Are Turkey's airstrikes a second edict?

 

Turkish UCAVs targeted YBŞ commanders and some civilian settlements in attacks on Sinjar. These attacks have created a new trauma for the people. Yazidi women and organizations made statements such as “Shengal is being subjected to genocide for the second time, but this time the world is watching”. The silence of the international community has provoked an outcry.

 

2023: International courts and partial justice

 

In 2023, some ISIS gangs were convicted of genocide in German court cases based on the direct testimonies of Yazidi women. While this is an important development, women emphasized that justice cannot be limited to punishment, but must also be integrated with reparation and social memory.

 

2025: Women's response to the past and future at the Enlightenment Conference

 

The Enlightenment Conference organized in July in Sinjar under the slogan “Call for Peace and Democratic Society, Response to the 73rd Edict” once again demonstrated the political will of women. The conference emphasized that self-defense, women-led social organization and democratic autonomy are indispensable.

 

Resistance continues today

 

Today, women are in the vanguard in Sinjar. They play an active role in many areas from self-defense to governance through YJŞ and women's assemblies. The society has created its own system with communes and people's assemblies. However, ISIS cell organizations and foreign interventions continue to threaten the region. International law fails to recognize genocide and gender-based violence.

 

Is there a danger of a new edict?

 

The past ten years in Sinjar have not only been the confrontation of a people with genocide, but also the history of women's struggle to rebuild life. However, the question of whether the edict is over or not is still topical. Has justice really been done, or is a new edict being written?