ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock Thursday visited the Yazidi heartland of Shingal, reiterating her country’s support for the ethnoreligious group.
Baerbock arrived in Baghdad on Tuesday, meeting with top officials in the Iraqi capital city. She also met with Kurdish leaders in Erbil the following day, discussing means to enhance relations between Erbil and Berlin.
On Thursday, she visited Shingal district where she spoke to Rudaw’s Naif Ramazan.
“The world has to know that a mass killing occurred in a place called Shingal eight years ago. Men, women and children from this area were all killed. Their women and children were kidnapped. We could not ignore the massacre of Yazidis. We have stood with the victims and done anything needed so that the next generation does not forget it. We will stand with them and help those who want to return to their country,” she said.
Baerbock also visited the House of Coexistence in Shingal’s Snune, meeting with the head of the project Mirza Dinnayi who toured the German minister to the house, introducing her to the different parts of the location that aims to spread harmony in the area.
The house consists of a cultural and social center and a public platform that is designed to bring together all the various components living in the Yazidi heartland.
The German in January recognized the ISIS crimes against Yazidis as “genocide.”
The German military has been an essential member of the global coalition against ISIS and has a solid presence in the Kurdistan Region. In late October, the German parliament voted to extend its military mandate to the country by a year to continue its advisory role against the threat of ISIS.
