SUHAM ŞENGALÎ

Like many revolutionary and militant women, comrade Nujiyan Arhan joined the struggle for freedom at a young age. Nujiyan continued her journey without pause, from the mountains of Kurdistan to the land of the Yazidis. Across plains, mountains, villages, and cities, she embodied a spirit of resistance. For her, every path in life was a struggle and a search for truth, and life itself was a school of endless knowledge.

Comrade Nujiyan Arhan was a skilled and conscious fighter, and at the same time a voice for truth in the field of free media. She possessed an unwavering will, understanding deeply that truth must not be lost in the darkness of events, and that the voice of right must remain loud no matter how harsh the circumstances.

I came to know comrades Nujiyan and Jinda when we arrived in Shingal. From the very first moment my eyes met those of comrade Nujiyan Arhan, I was drawn to the light that filled her face. It was our first meeting, yet it left a profound impact on me. I felt great affection for her and said to myself: I will work alongside her. And so my journey in the field of media began.

We learned so much from comrade Nujiyan; above all, she taught us the meaning of life. For her, success in life was tied to success in work and struggle. As young Yazidi women, we had witnessed massacres with our own eyes. We learned from her how to heal our wounds, how to make the world hear our pain, and how to practice genuine media that reflects our reality. We drew much inspiration from the style and approach of comrade Nujiyan, who would always say: "Do not wait for anyone; convey your pain yourselves. Be the language, the voice, and the color of your community."

For her, media was an intellectual endeavor requiring awareness and responsibility. Our media was grounded in the thought and vision of leader Abdullah Öcalan, and it developed thanks to both. Deep discussions often took place between me and comrade Nujiyan about this thought and vision—discussions that helped shape our consciousness and the path of our work.

Bringing the Massacre to the World

On August 3, 2014, ISIS launched its attack on Shingal, committing the 74th genocide against our community. The aim of this attack was to annihilate the Yazidis. It was a heavy massacre that shook the conscience of humanity at the time. It came as a result of a betrayal steeped in malice and hatred by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). Thousands were killed, displaced, and abducted; women were sold in markets… The world witnessed and heard of all these crimes, and knew that what happened in Shingal was a true genocide. Yet not everyone had the moral and human courage to confront this genocide or stand against it.

But the guerrillas and freedom fighters refused to remain silent in the face of what happened, confronting the genocide with storm‑like determination, saying "Enough." Thanks to their intervention, the spread of the genocide was halted, and neither ISIS nor its KDP allies could achieve their goals. Immediately after the massacre, comrade Nujiyan, like hundreds of freedom fighters, advanced toward Shingal, carrying a weapon in one hand and a pen and camera in the other, heading to the land of her forefathers and mothers.

While thousands of journalists around the world merely watched the genocide without any action, comrade Nujiyan refused to be a silent witness and went herself to Shingal. As soon as she arrived, she began training Yazidi young women, focusing on teaching them the fundamentals of media work so that they could convey their community's pain to the world in their own voices. For the first time in the history of our community, a free Yazidi media and a Yazidi women's media emerged. Every truthful word spoken became a thorn in the eyes of the traitors and enemies of our people.

Women Who Had Never Appeared Before a Camera Spoke to Nujiyan

Comrade Nujiyan Arhan was a warm and radiant personality; anyone who met her even once felt hope rekindled in their heart. Especially for children whose childhood had been stolen by the enemy, Nujiyan was a refuge that brought reassurance. She often said that the future of the Yazidi community lay in the eyes of those children who were still searching for a glimmer of hope.

For this reason, she engaged with children with the spirit of a child like them, with young people with the vitality of youth, and with the elderly with the respect and reverence they deserved. Wherever she went, she opened her heart to everyone, offering them her sincerity and knowledge in a way that made her close to the hearts of all Yazidis. She entered the life of every Yazidi woman like an endless warm breeze. In each story of the massacre she heard from the mothers, she felt deeply the wound that the genocide had left in their souls.

In Nujiyan Arhan's heart, every story was like a rebirth of life. Therefore, she was not merely a journalist going to film a report, produce a program, or compile a file; she carried the pain of Yazidi women in her heart and conveyed it to the world. That is why women who had never before appeared in front of a camera spoke to her without hesitation—they felt safe in front of her lens.

Hundreds of Yazidi women whose hearts had been shattered and who had suffered the ugliest forms of immoral and inhuman violence at the hands of ISIS, when they were liberated, found in Nujiyan Arhan a listening ear and a heart that embraced their pain. She listened to them one by one and conveyed their suffering to public opinion so that the truth would not be buried in silence.

In the battle against ISIS, Nujiyan accompanied the resistance of the male and female fighters and the Yazidi community step by step. She was present throughout all stages of Shingal's liberation and became part of that journey. She was among the first to bring the news of freedom to the world—news that restored the spirit to the Yazidi community and revived in humanity a sense of justice and hope.

She Was Seriously Wounded in the Khanasor Attack

On March 3, 2017, the peshmerga forces affiliated with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) launched a planned attack on the Khanasor area. Our villages were still under the threat of ISIS, and battles were ongoing. Despite that, the peshmerga turned the dagger of betrayal against the Yazidi community, attempting through a new scheme to complete their old goal: the annihilation of the Yazidis.

When comrade Nujiyan Arhan heard of the attack on Khanasor, she rushed toward the front lines, to where betrayal stood on one side and the legendary resistance of the fighters on the other. When she arrived at the front line, she was targeted by the attackers who came under the name of "peshmerga" and suffered severe head injuries. She lost her life twenty days later, after fighting for her life in the Martyr Sariya Berû Avâ Hospital.

We, the students and comrades of Nujiyan Arhan, have taken up her pen and camera and continue to work in the footsteps of the martyrs of free media who sacrificed their lives for truth. We have made a covenant that these truths will never again be buried in darkness, and that the voice of truth will not be silenced. These facts will remain present in memory, will be told everywhere, and the voice of right will stay loud. I hold the memory of all free‑media martyrs with deep respect, and I draw my strength from their unforgettable sacrifices.