There are multiple political movements and parties claiming to represent the interests of the Yezidi people. One of these groups is the Yezidi Democratic Movement for Change. On 29 December 2020, I conducted an interview with the media wing of the Yezidi Democratic Movement for Change to learn more about this movement and its views of the current situation in the Sinjar area.
Q: When was the Yezidi Democratic Movement for Change established and what are its main aims? Is the party affiliated with any of the political blocs?
A: After the genocide of the Yezidi people in Iraq, the Yezidi Movement for Change was established to defend the rights of the Yezidi people and the Iraqi people and in 2014 our cadres were bearing arms against Da'esh [Islamic State] on more than one axis until 2017 when victory over this terrorist organisation was declared. So the name of the movement was changed to the Yezidi Democratic Movement for Change in the third conference in October 2017 by consensus. We are not affiliated with any political side, but the coalition: we may have strong relations with the National Movement for Changed led by Dr. Abd al-Amir al-Dharab. And our aims are the right of the citizen and the protection of his dignity under the banner of the united Iraq.
Q: How does the Yezidi Democratic Movement for Change differ from the other Yezidi parties?
A: As for the Yezidi parties, there are among them those who take orders from sides and this does not serve the Yezidi people but rather the side that controls these parties. As for the nationalist parties, we have no dispute with them but rather our aims are the right of citizenship without regards to religion, colour and ethnicity, preserving the dignity of the Iraqi person and building a civil state.
Q: What is your position on the agreement between the Baghdad government and the Kurdistan Region regarding the Sinjar district? Do you reject any return for the Kurdistan government and Peshmerga?
A: As for the Baghdad and [Kurdistan] Region agreement, we do not think that it serves the interest of the homeland and the Yezidi citizen and we have experiences with the militia of the Kurds in 2014. The Yezidi street does not trust the Peshmerga and sees in them one of the reasons for the fall of the area into the hands of Da'esh just as it sees in them the cause of the catastrophe that occurred in Sinjar.
Q: What is your position on the presence of the PKK, its affiliates and the so-called Autonomous Administration in Sinjar?
A: We see in the PKK a foreign force that has agendas it wants to realise through a small group of the people and it has formed a governmental framework, and this is a disaster with regards to the area, tantamount to a state inside a state and the more correct thing to do is to cement the authority of the Iraqi state in the region.
Q: What is your position on the presence of the Hashd in the Sinjar area?
A: The Hashd Sha'abi waged war on Da'esh in all areas of Iraq and liberated areas: all respect for their heroic acts. And we consider that their presence is necessary, that is outside the residential areas, and it should be tantamount to a force for the protection of the borders, because it is an Iraqi force affiliated with the Iraqi Ministry of Defence, and they have an imprint in the liberation of the areas of south Sinjar.
Q: What is the best solution for the Sinjar area in the long-term? For example establishing a special autonomous region in Sinjar?
A: Finally, we consider that the solution is to form a force from the sons of Sinjar affiliated with the Iraqi state and Sinjar should be affiliated with the authority of the state with the spread of the authority of the law. As for the issue of the autonomous administration, this is a constitutional matter we consider to be difficult at the present time because it does not serve the interest of the region. And thanks.