News Center— Today, August 3, marks the anniversary of the attack on Shingal, which represents one of the most heinous crimes committed by ISIS, and continues to be invoked as a pivotal moment in Yazidi and Kurdish memory, due to the humanitarian tragedies, abductions, and widespread violations it left behind.

The General Command of the Women's Protection Units (YPJ) issued a statement today, Monday, August 3, on the occasion of the 12th anniversary of the genocide against the Yazidi community, condemning the crimes of ISIS in Shingal in 2014, and recalling with profound sorrow and respect the martyrs of the genocide and all those who confronted that brutality with their bodies.

The statement affirmed that the deep wound left by the genocide in Shingal can only be healed by raising the level of struggle, building self-administration, and strengthening community organization. It pointed out that ISIS, with the support and planning of the Turkish state, attempted to expand the genocide it initiated against the indigenous Yazidi community in Shingal into a comprehensive genocide targeting the entire Kurdish people.

A Historic Defeat

The statement explained that the execution of this dark strategy was carried out through ISIS launching the most horrific attacks against women, children, and the elderly—from Kobani to Shingal and Makhmur. At that historic moment, forces that claimed to protect the Yazidi community, including the Kurdistan Democratic Party (PDK), abandoned their responsibilities, leaving the Yazidis to face the massacre alone against the brutality of ISIS.

It noted that "this scheme faced a historic defeat thanks to the heroic resistance waged by the '12 Knights.' Women fighters, through their faith and resilience, also embodied a model of resistance and contributed to breaking the aggressive masculine mentality that sought to subjugate free will."

The statement emphasized that the goal of those attacks was not limited to physical liquidation, but also targeted the deprivation of the community's will, and the separation of the people of Shingal from their historical roots and Yazidi identity. It affirmed that the crimes committed by ISIS—from killing and captivity to the destruction of cultural memory and the attempt to erase religious existence—constitute a major historical crime against human values and the philosophy of free life.

The statement called upon the global conscience and the international community to assume their ethical and historical responsibilities toward liberating the thousands of Yazidi women and youth who remain in captivity, emphasizing that standing by the Yazidi people is a true measure of humanity.

The statement affirmed that the threats facing Shingal do not target a specific geographic area but represent a direct targeting of the political and social existence and authentic identity of the entire Kurdish people. It noted that the true guarantee for protecting the Yazidi community lies in strengthening the democratic self-administration system and the official recognition of its political and cultural rights: "Protecting the resistance of Shingal and its free will is the preservation of the future of all free peoples."

The General Command of  (YPJ) concluded its statement by affirming the continuation of the struggle with determination and without interruption, until the liberation of all captive Yazidi women and the revelation of the fate of the missing, and working with all ethical and human capacities toward building a free, safe, and equal life befitting the Yazidi community, while continuing to support its struggle and express its voice and will.