NIQASH: But does that justify a non-Iraqi group interfering in Yazidi affairs?
Al-Sheikh: I believe that ultimately the Yazidis themselves should decide the fate of Sinjar.
NIQASH: Do you think that Sinjar will go back to being controlled by the Iraqi federal government in Baghdad?
Al-Sheikh: It's very complicated and it's very difficult to tell. There are so many influences on the ground there.
NIQASH: In January a group of Yazidis said they were forming a council to administrate the Sinjar district, that would be separate from both Baghdad and Iraqi Kurdistan. Do the Yazidis want autonomy?
Al-Sheikh: We reject the idea of autonomy or of independence from Iraq. We want to stay part of Iraq and be ruled from Baghdad. However after our areas have been freed of the IS group we want to form a region within Iraq that would cater for the different people here – the Yazidis, the Shabaks, Christians, Turkmen and even Shiite Muslims. Within that region we want a province for Yazidis.
NIQASH: At last count, how many of your people were kidnapped by the IS group?
Al-Sheikh: We do not have a final figure. However we do know that number has almost reached 3,500 and that most of the kidnapped are women and children. Around 1,500 of the kidnapped have been released but we still have almost 2,000 missing women and children that we know nothing about. Additionally some whole families disappeared and there is nobody to report on them, so numbers could be higher. We got these numbers by going to the affected villages.
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