EzidischeFlaggeDemoHannover, Germany – An Ezidi party in Iraq is supposed to be established on the initiative of the top HPS commanders Haydar Shesho and Dawud Jindi, the HPS announced in a statement published on Saturday, stating that an establishment of a party led by Ezidis and aimed at ensuring their right of self-determination within the local borders was inevitable due to the rapid changes in the Middle East, the preventable genocide against the Ezidi people and the political situation in Iraq.

Since the fall of the Saddam regime Ezidis are caught between the crossfires, being deprived of their rights by both Baghdad and the Kurdish government in Erbil.

“After the fall of the Saddam regime, when a bloody dictatorship came to an end, major changes took place in the past decade.  The most important change is perhaps the transition of Iraq towards a constitution that enshrines the principles of liberty, equality and justice, taking basic human rights as a basis. Despite these progressive developments of the Iraqi Republic´s constitution in general and the Kurdistan region´s in particular, there was a marginalization of minorities in Iraq, including Kurdistan. This also effects the Ezidi minority, which became clear again with the tragedy [editor´s note: in Shingal] that occurred as the result of injustice, isolation, negligence and the deprivation of rights from Baghdad to Erbil”, the statement said.

The around 600,000 Ezidis had clearly pledged themselves to the Kurdistan regime after the fall of the Saddam regime, which, however, “turned out as a terrible failure in view of the wrong policy towards Ezidis”. The Kurdish government which only looked upon Ezidis as a religious minority did not respond to their specific problems such as an underrepresentation in parliament or the denial from holding key positions in their own settlement area.

The genocide in Shingal carried out by ISIS targeted the Ezidis´ religious identity. For this reason, Ezidis proceed to make use of their right of self-determination to be able to defend their interests independently in the institutions of both Iraq and Iraqi-Kurdistan.

The new political party is supposed to integrate all political currents from the Ezidi community and thus allow them an independent political representation. Shesho stated that the party´s top priority was to maintain the Ezidis´ existence.

Haydar Shesho, current HPS supreme commander, was arrested on 6th of April 2015 by Kurdish security forces affiliated to the ruling KDP for the so called creation of an illegitimate militia against Kurdish law. He was released eight days later. Shingal´s Protection Force HPS was established for the defense of Ezidis against ISIS after around 10,000 Peshmerga fighters had fled the region, abandoning Ezidis to their fate. The HPS currently consists of around 3,200 volunteers according to the HPS commander Jindi.

The Ezidis´ future as well as the consequences of the genocide in Shingal will be now discussed in Germany. The establishment of a party is the first result.

© EzidiPress