The Turkish air force frequently launches airstrikes against suspected Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) positions in northern Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.
Nobel Peace Prize 2018 laureate Murad told Cavusoglu these attacks are preventing Yezidis from returning and rebuilding Sinjar – known to Kurds as Shingal.
“Met with minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to discuss the recent Turkish airstrikes in Sinjar,” Murad tweeted on Sunday evening.
“Turkey and Iraq must work together to find a solution to prevent any further bombings in Sinjar. We want to rebuild what ISIS destroyed and help Yezidis return home,” she added.
Met w/minister @MevlutCavusoglu to dicuss the recent Turkish airstrikes in Sinjar. Turkey & Iraq must work together to find a solution to prevent any further bombings in Sinjar. We want to rebuild what ISIS destroyed & help Yazidis return home. pic.twitter.com/1aTmlNMhLE
— Nadia Murad (@NadiaMuradBasee) December 16, 2018
Cavusoglu also tweeted about his meeting with Murad, but did not mention her plea to halt airstrikes.
“Discussed with Yezidi activist and 2018 Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad the situation of Yezidis,” he said.
“PKK/PYD/YPG continues to oppress everyone in Iraq and Syria, including Yezidis, Assyrians and Kurds,” he added.
Discussed w/ #Yezidi activist and 2018 #Nobel Peace Prize winner @NadiaMuradBasee the situation of Yezidis. PKK/PYD/YPG continues to oppress everyone in Iraq & Syria, including Yezidis, Assyrians and Kurds. pic.twitter.com/ZZlpWjH6kL
— Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (@MevlutCavusoglu) December 16, 2018
Ankara has urged Iraq to support its efforts to remove the PKK from Shingal and the Kurdistan Region.
The PKK is an armed group fighting for greater Kurdish political and cultural rights in Turkey. It is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU.
The group established the Yezidi self-defense forces in Shingal – the Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS) and the Yezidi Women’s Units (YJE) – to protect the community in the wake of the 2014 ISIS genocide.
A PKK leader in Shingal, Ismail Ozden, who took the nom de guerre Zaki Shingali, was killed alongside four other YBS fighters in a Turkish airstrike in August.
Shingal today is controlled by a rainbow of rival armed groups. Yezidis living in IDPs in the Kurdistan Region and in Europe do not feel it is safe to return to their homeland.
Speaking on the platform at the Doha Forum, Murad said Yezidi women must be protected until the perpetrators of the genocide have stood trial.
“All the victims need a safe haven until Daesh is brought to the international courts,” said Murad, AFP reports.
She also called on the Iraqi government and the international community to investigate what happened to the roughly 3,000 women and children kidnapped by ISIS who are still missing.
Murad, 25, was born in the southern village of Kocho in the Shingal region. In 2014, she was kidnapped by ISIS and held captive prior to escaping through the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. After escaping and finding refuge in Germany, she went on to become a world recognized campaigner for women’s rights.
Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney is working with Murad to help build the case against ISIS.
She was jointly awarded the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize with Congolese gynecologist and women’s rights campaigner Dr Denis Mukwege for their work combating sexual violence as a weapon of war.
Speaking in the Qatari capital, Murad said she someday hopes to return.
“I dream about returning to Sinjar and living a noble life, opening a beauty salon as a way to help Yazidi women,” she said.
Shingal remains insecure and badly neglected, however. In her Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Murad called for justice for Yezidi women and girls.
“Daesh tried to annihilate an entire community in Iraq by enslaving their women and killing their men,” she said.
“But in the massacre that happened I lost my mother and six of my friends. Our lives changed overnight in a way that we will never forget. The fabric of the Yezidi community was destroyed,” she added.
Murad is especially critical of the previous Iraqi government’s neglect of the Yezidis.
“It didn’t give anyone their rights before or after ISIS. Looking at the previous government, we haven’t seen any help in the past four years. We hope the new government will help everyone in the country unlike previous governments. My hope is they will give more women’s rights,” Murad said on the eve of the Nobel ceremony.
Murad visited Baghdad last week and met with Iraqi President Barham Salih and Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi. She also visited the Kurdistan Region, meeting with KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani, Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani, and security chief Masrour Barzani.
The main road between Shingal and Duhok in the Kurdistan Region, where the majority of Yezidi IDPs reside, was officially reopened over the weekend.
