Widespread solidarity for autonomy in Sinjar on 11th anniversary of Yazidi Genocide

ZALIN (QAMISHLI), North and East Syria — On the 11th anniversary of the genocide committed against the Yazidi people by ISIS terrorists on August 3, 2014, multiple political and administrative bodies across the Democratic Autonomous Administration of the Region of North and East Syria (DAARNES) issued statements of solidarity, calling for justice and long-term protection for Yazidis.

The DAARNES expressed its “deep solidarity” with Yazidis in Shigur (Sinjar) and beyond. In an official statement, the DAARNES described the genocide — which claimed the lives of thousands of civilians, most of them women, children, and the elderly — as a “systematic act of genocide” aimed at erasing the religious and cultural identity of the Yazidi people.

The statement also condemned what it called “regional and international negligence” in protecting the indigenous peoples of the region. It renewed calls for international support of the Autonomous Administration in Shigur (Sinjar) as a safeguard for stability and a guarantee against ongoing threats. The DAARNES urged the United Nations to launch a “transparent international investigation” to hold perpetrators accountable for the crimes and violations committed.

Meanwhile, the Co-chairs of the Executive Council of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) released a joint statement, calling the genocide “a stain on the conscience of humanity.” The statement emphasized that the Yazidi people’s struggle for self-defense and self-determination is “a legitimate right” that must be supported.

Rejecting the democratic autonomous administration in Shigur (Sinjar) cannot be interpreted in good faith, the statement said, describing such rejection as a deliberate denial of justice and human conscience. The KCK’s statement further stressed that support for the Yazidi cause is a moral, legal, and human obligation.

In a symbolic act of cultural revival, the Yazidi Union of Syria laid the foundation stone for a new Yazidi temple in the village of Doker, in the Amuda countryside. The ceremony was attended by religious and political representatives, as well as members of the DAARNES, in an effort to revitalize Yazidi religious and cultural life after the devastation of the genocide.

This year, Yazidis commemorate the genocide while continuing to demand justice, with many still displaced or living in exile, far from their ancestral homeland.