Sema
President Masoud Barzani’s Message on the 11th Anniversary of the Shingal Catastrophe
In the Name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate
The crime committed by ISIS terrorists eleven years ago against our Ezidi brothers and sisters surpassed all bounds of treachery and brutality. It left a wound that will never be erased from our memory.
It seems to be the destiny of the Kurdish people to continually face merciless enemies devoid of conscience, and for the people of Kurdistan to endure one catastrophe after another. What happened to our Ezidi brothers and sisters is part of a long chain of tragedies inflicted upon the people of Kurdistan.
It is clear to all that the Ezidis were targeted solely for being Kurds and for their religious beliefs. They fell victim to the hatred and savagery of ISIS criminals and were subjected to genocide.
After that horrific catastrophe, the people of Kurdistan and the Peshmerga stood firmly by their Ezidi brothers and sisters, doing everything within their power and sacrificing deeply to rescue the displaced, liberate Shingal and Mount Shingal.
Here, we highly commend the role of the Peshmerga forces and all those heroic individuals who wrote a proud chapter of history with their blood, liberating Shingal and avenging the
Ezidi victims by humiliating the terrorists beneath the feet of the very people they tried to destroy.
We also extend sincere thanks to the Coalition Forces, whose support for the Peshmerga was vital in defeating ISIS.
On the 11th anniversary of the Shingal catastrophe, we honor the souls of the martyrs and victims of that crime, and of all crimes and massacres endured by the people of Kurdistan. The Iraqi government must fulfill its responsibility in compensating the victims of the Shingal catastrophe and all other genocides committed against the Kurdish people.
Furthermore, it is imperative to bring an end to the chauvinistic mindsets and behaviors that continue to inflict injustice upon the people of Kurdistan under various pretexts and with a mentality rooted in denial and inhumanity.
Masoud Barzani
August 3, 2025