Conflict resolution

Massacre in Sinjar, one year on: REPAK statement

REPAK, the Kurdish Women’s Relations Office based in Erbil, has published this statement on the one year anniversary of the IS attack on Sinjar/Shengal, which led to a horrific massacre in which thousands of Yezidi people were killed, thousands taken into sexual slavery and many more thousands were displaced. 

To the press and public

Exactly one year ago, gangs of the so-called Islamic State (IS) tried to carry out genocide in the Southern Kurdish (Northern Iraqi), mostly by Yazidis inhabited city Shingal/Sinjar. On 3 August 2014, IS aimed to occupy Shingal by massacres and ethnic cleansing in the villages around. According to numbers of the UN, due to the massacres that started on 3 August, 5 thousand Kurdish Yazidis got killed, 7 thousand girls and women got kidnapped like trophies, enslaved by IS gangs and sold in slavery markets. Even though some of the women were able to escape, a lot of women committed suicide for escaping from this atrocity. But still thousands of women remain in the hands of IS. Continue reading “Massacre in Sinjar, one year on: REPAK statement” →

Kurdish community, Kurdish Women

Event report: Feminicide in Sinjar

Report of a seminar held at Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS, on Saturday 22 November, organised by Roj Women and Peace in Kurdistan Campaign.

On Saturday 22 November, representatives of several women’s organisations gathered in SOAS University for a seminar to discuss the use of sexualised violence in the recent conflicts in Iraq and Syria. In particular, the event sought to bring attention to the kidnapping of Yezidi women in the Sinjar province by ISIS fighters in August and discuss ways to campaign for their release. The seminar was introduced and chaired Isabel Käser, a PhD candidate, at the Centre for Gender Studies, SOAS, and included members of a newly emerging Women’s Alliance for Kurdistan, Iraq and Syria, a platform of UK based women’s groups who convened following the crisis in Sinjar. Continue reading “Event report: Feminicide in Sinjar” →

Conflict resolution

Conference at the EP: Yezidi Kurds and the Middle East


The Representation in Europe of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and the European Yezidi Federation co-organize a conference at the European Parliament on the following subject: YEZIDI KURDS AND THE MIDDLE-EAST:CURRENT SITUATION & FUTURE PROJECTIONS

November 19th 17:00 – 19:00
Room: 4Q2 – European Parliament / Brussels
Simultaneous interpretation: English, French & German

Opening speech:
MEP Ana Gomes, S&D Group, Portugal

PANEL

17:15 – 19:00

Moderator:
MEP Josef Weidenholzer, S&D Group in the EP, Austria

Current situation: the Yezidis From History to Present
Şefik Tagay (PhD), Chair of the Union of Yezidi Academics

Future Projections of the Yezidis for a Recognised Status
Mr. Ali Atalan, Co-Chair of the European Êzidi Federation Continue reading “Conference at the EP: Yezidi Kurds and the Middle East” →

Uncategorized

New KNK joint committee issues appeal on Kobane

The appeal below has been issued by the newly established Joint Diplomatic Committee consisting of several Kurdish political parties and organsiations:

An Urgent Appeal to the International Community

Protecting the Kurdish people and preventing the forced displacement of our nation in our land can only be achieved through a mutual stance on this matter.

Following a series of brutal ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Levant) attacks on Kurdistan, on 10/08/2014 the Foreign Relations Commission of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) sent an urgent request to the foreign offices of all the Kurdish parties across the diaspora to initiate joint lobbying and diplomatic relations. Continue reading “New KNK joint committee issues appeal on Kobane” →

Conflict resolution

An Urgent Appeal to the International Community

The Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) has issued this appeal from the Joint Diplomatic Committee of Kurdistan Organisations, formed after a meeting on 17 August 2014 with representatives from all Kurdish parties and organisations which called for unified diplomatic action on the current crisis. The appeal calls for humanitarian aid to be sent to Rojava as well as South Kurdistan, and for the international community to recognise the Sinjar crisis as genocide.

 

An Urgent Appeal to the International Community

(By the Joint Diplomatic Committee of Kurdistan Organisations)


Due to the brutal ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Levant) attacks on Kurdistan, the Foreign Relations Commission of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) sent an urgent request to the foreign offices of all the Kurdish Parties and organisations to organise joint lobbying and carry out diplomatic relations in unison.

The meeting which took place on 17/08/2014 at the Kurdistan National Congress office in Brussels hosted the representatives from foreign offices of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), Koma Civaken Democratic – Europe (KCD), the Leftist Party of Kurdistan (Hizbi Shuhy Kurdistan), Kurdistan Islamic Union, Kurdistan Islamic Group, The Federation of Yezidi Kurds, The Union of Assyrians in Europe, Democratic Union Party (PYD), The Party of Free Life of Kurdistan, (PJAK), the representatives of the Democratic Nations Party in Europe (HDP) and the Kurdish Institute in Brussels. However, due to the short notice and emergencies a number of invited political parties could not attend the meeting, and a request was made to organise another meeting in the near future.

Continue reading “An Urgent Appeal to the International Community” →

Conflict resolution

Write to your MP! ‘Action on the threat from ISIS’

Whether Parliament is recalled over the crisis in Iraq or not, nonetheless MPs will soon be returning to Westminster and without a doubt the issue will be among the top priorities of upcoming sessions.

This is why it is critical that our MPs – the people elected to represent you and your views – are not only informed properly about what is going on, but are also pushed to pressure the government and put our issues on the agenda. The media has followed events in Iraq closely. However, information about the greater impact of ISIS in Syria and the Middle East, the years of violence perpetrated by them against Rojava, the leading role of the YPG and PKK in the front against ISIS, the humanitarian efforts of Syrian Kurdish people and indeed, the existence of Rojava entirely, have been limited if not ignored completely in high-level discussions of how Britain should act in response to the crisis. Continue reading “Write to your MP! ‘Action on the threat from ISIS’” →

Conflict resolution

Call foraid at Newroz Campa in Rojava

Urgent call for the international community

 

We are calling for all international organizations, human rights bodies, civil society organizations, United Nations bodies, the League of the Arab States, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, all humanitarian relief organizations, the international charity organizations, we are calling on all of them to stand with us, support us and live up to their humanitarian obligations and provide relief for the Yezidi people. The Yezidis are facing genocide, ethnic cleansing and forced displacement by the ISIS. We have been able so far to rescue nearly a hundred thousand of people in very difficult conditions. A large number of them have lost their lives as a result of the hardships, many of them summarily executed, including women and children. Thousands have been forced into the Badush prison in Mosul, where also a large number of women are being held, some of them sold into slavery. Continue reading “Call foraid at Newroz Campa in Rojava” →