Nadia Murad calls on Turkey to end its bombing of Shingal

“We want to rebuild what ISIS destroyed and help Yezidis return home.”

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Yezidi (Ezidi) activist Nadia Murad has called on to Turkey to end its bombing of Sinjar (Shingal) after Ankara hit alleged Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) positions in the Ezidi-majority region last week.  

On Thursday night, Turkish warplanes targeted PKK positions in areas disputed between Erbil and Baghdad.

Sources in the Mount Qarachokh area near Makhmour district said the bombardment occurred at around 9:30 p.m. local time. Others in Shingal said Turkish jets struck the villages of Shlu and Tal Ozeir.

In a tweet on Sunday, Murad said she met with Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu “to discuss the recent Turkish airstrikes in Sinjar.”

“Turkey & Iraq must work together to find a solution to prevent any further bombings in Sinjar,” she wrote. “We want to rebuild what ISIS destroyed & help Yazidis return home.”

The Ezidi survivor was subjected to various kinds of violence by members of the so-called Islamic State (IS) following its takeover of the city of Shingal in August 2014. Murad was one of a few women who fled from IS and has since recounted her suffering to the world.

She is also the first Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking for the United Nations.

Murad visited her hometown on Friday and stated that she would use the prize money from her Nobel Peace Prize award to create a hospital there that will focus on victims of sexual assault.

“With the money I got from the Nobel Peace Prize, I will build a hospital in Shingal to treat ill people, mainly widows, and women who were exposed to sexual abuses by IS militants,” she told Ezidis during her visit to Shingal.

Murad recently visited the Kurdistan Region capital of Erbil to meet with senior Kurdish officials who congratulated her on winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

In separate meetings with Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani and Chancellor of the Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) Masrour Barzani, the Ezidi activist spoke about support for the reconstruction of Shingal.