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PM: Erbil-Baghdad deal robs Yezidi self-determination

by on 2020-10-12
 

[Shingal, Ezidikhan. 12 October 2020] The Office of the Prime Minister of Ezidikhan, Barjis Soso Khalaf, today issued the Prime Minister’s statement denouncing the 9 October deal reached between Baghdad and Erbil determining the future of Yezidis without seeking the consent of Yezidis and without consulting with Yezidi representatives of the Provisional Government of Ezidikhan.

The Ezidikhan Prime Minister’s complete statement reads:

“The 9 October agreement between Iraq and the Kurdish Regional Government to install external authorities in Sinjar reflects no coordinated agreement whatsoever with the Yezidi people or the Government of Ezidikhan, the same coordinated agreement that Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Iraq, Jeanie Hennis-Plasschaert had called for.

Without the consent of the Yezidi people of Ezidikhan, the Baghdad-Erbil deal is illegitimate and illegal. It tramples upon the right of Yezidis to govern themselves as they see fit.

-Prime Minister of Ezidikhan, Barjis Soso Khalaf

Baghdad and Erbil are baldly imposing their will on the Yezidi homeland without Yezidi consent. It is utterly unacceptable to the Yezidi people and to the Ezidikhan Government.

By their action both the Iraqi government and the Kurdish Regional Government are perpetuating a failed colonial policy that lacks the consent of the Yezidi of Ezidikhan. Yezidis were not even invited to the table to discuss the future of their own homeland!

“The United States shares complicity in this colonial-style act that wantonly tramples upon Iraqi Yezidis’ right to self-determination and self-government, once again sacrificing its vaunted democratic principles on the altar of realpolitik.”

-Prime Minister of Ezidikhan, Barjis Soso Khalaf

If Iraq and the Kurds wish to contribute to stabilizing Sinjar then they must come to the table and engage in negotiations with the Ezidikhan Government with the participation and support of the United States. Without such negotiations the Ezidikhan Government and the Yezidi people will resist the forced encroachment by Iraq and the Kurdish Regional Government.

I urge you to all responsible parties to acknowledge Iraq’s need to make amends with its long-suffering people, the Yezidis of Ezidikhan.

[signed] Barjis Soso Khala, Ezidikhan Prime Minister