Şemdinli is a town located in the Şemdinli District of Hakkari Province in Turkey and had a population of 16,079 in 2022. The current mayor is Tahir Saklı from the Justice and Development Party (AKP), elected in 2019.
Lalish is a mountain valley and temple in Shekhan, Duhok Governorate in Iraqi Kurdistan. It is the holiest temple of the Yazidis. It is the location of the tomb of the Sheikh Adi ibn Musafir, a central figure of the Yazidi faith.
The Sinjar Mountains, are a 100-kilometre-long (62 mi) mountain range that runs east to west, rising above the surrounding alluvial steppe plains in northwestern Iraq to an elevation of 1,463 meters (4,800 ft). The highest segment of these mountains, about 75 km (47 mi) long, lies in the Nineveh Governorate. The western and lower segment of these mountains lies in Syria and is about 25 km (16 mi) long. The city of Sinjar is just south of the range. These mountains are regarded as sacred by the Yazidis.
The Sinjar Resistance Units is a Yazidi militia formed in Iraq in 2007 to protect Yazidis in Iraq in the wake of attacks by Sunni Islamist insurgents. It is the second largest Yazidi militia, after the Êzîdxan Protection Force (HPÊ). However, it is much more active than the HPÊ in fighting against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
Baadre (also written Ba'adra, Badra or Bathra, is a town located in the Shekhan District of the Ninawa Governorate in northern Iraq. The town is located in the Nineveh Plains. It belongs to the disputed territories of Northern Iraq. According to 2014 statistics, Baadre's urban population was 9 835 and the rural population was 5 167.
The Women's Protection Units or Women's Defense Units is an all-female militia involved in the Syrian civil war. The YPJ is part of the Syrian Democratic Forces, the armed forces of Rojava, and is closely affiliated with the male-led YPG. While the YPJ is mainly made up of Kurds, it also includes women from other ethnic groups in Northern Syria.
The Protection Force of Êzîdxan (HPÊ), is a Kurdish Yazidi military force founded by Haydar Shesho in the summer of 2014 in respond to the Sinjar massacre. It was bigger than the other main Yazidi militia who took part in the liberation of Sinjar from Islamic State, the Sinjar Resistance Units, which is aligned with the PKK-backed Kurdistan Communities Union.
The November Sinjar offensive was a combination of operations of Kurdish Peshmerga, PKK, and Yezidi militias in November 2015, to recapture the city of Sinjar from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. It resulted in a decisive victory for the Kurdish forces, who expelled the ISIL militants from Sinjar and regained control of Highway 47, which until then had served as the major supply route between the ISIL strongholds of Raqqa and Mosul.
The Êzîdxan Women's Units is a Yazidi all-women militia formed in Iraq in 2015 to protect the Yazidi community in the wake of attacks by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and other Islamist groups that view Yazidis as pagan infidels.
The Ezidkhan Command for Liberating Sinjar, known as the Sinjar Alliance, is a joint command of two - initially three - Yazidi militias, the Sinjar Resistance Units (YBŞ), and the Êzîdxan Women's Units (YJÊ). Both of the remaining two militias are supported by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
The Ezidxane Asayish, are the police force in the regions controlled by the PKK-affiliated Sinjar Resistance Units. The force is a Yazidi organization which aims to protect the rights of this minority. It has a training post in Sinjar, where the policemen are trained by the PKK. The force also gets officially financial aid from the Iraqi Government.
The Sinjar clashes of 3 March 2017 occurred between pro-PKK forces, namely the Sinjar Resistance Units (YBŞ) and the Êzîdxan Women's Units (YJÊ), and the Rojava Peshmerga that serve as the Kurdish National Council's paramilitary wing. After KNC forces entered the town of Khanasor in the Iraqi Sinjar Mountains, fighting boke out among unclear circumstances, resulting in dozens of casualties.
In the early morning of 25 April 2017, the Turkish Air Force conducted multiple airstrikes against media centers and headquarters of the People's Protection Units (YPG) and the Women's Protection Units (YPJ) in northeastern Syria, and against positions of the Sinjar Resistance Units (YBŞ) on Mount Sinjar, northwestern Iraq. The airstrikes killed 20 YPG and YPJ fighters in Syria in addition to five Peshmerga soldiers in Iraq.
İsmail Özden, aka Mam Zêki Shingali, was a Yazidi Kurdish member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, famous for the leading role he played in the resistance to the genocide of Yazidis by ISIL. He was killed on 15 August 2018 in a Turkish Air Force airstrike.
The August 15, 2018, Turkish airstrikes on Sinjar were two airstrikes on İsmail Özden, a leading member of the Sinjar Resistance Units (YBŞ). Four others were killed in the airstrike.
The Sinjar clashes (2019) refer to a conflict that took place between the Iraqi Army and Kurdistan Worker's Party-affiliated forces in the Sinjar from 17 March to 21 March 2019.
The joint Claw-Eagle and Claw-Tiger operations was a Turkish Armed Forces external operation in northern Iraq. The operation took place in the Qandil Mountains, the Sinjar District, and Makhmur, against Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) targets, as part of the ongoing Kurdish–Turkish and Kurdish–Iranian conflicts. Claw-Eagle, the air campaign, began on 15 June 2020. Claw-Tiger, the ground campaign, was launched on 17 June.
Operation Claw-Lock is an ongoing military operation of the Turkish Armed Forces in northern Iraq. The operation is taking place in the Duhok Governorate against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), as part of the ongoing Kurdish–Turkish conflict.
The Kurdistan Region–PKK conflict is a series of battles and clashes in Iraqi Kurdistan between the ruling Kurdistan Regional Government against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and its allied groups. It started in 1983 and is still ongoing in the form of an insurgency. The PKK's primary method is using guerrilla warfare against the Peshmerga.
The Peshmerga Roj, also known as Rojava Peshmerga, are the military wing of the Kurdish National Council in Syria. They are pro-KDP and take orders from President Barzani of Iraqi Kurdistan.
Kurdistan Region [2] [3] [4] 
Turkey [5] [6] 
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
