Yazidi media activists and officials in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, expressed their solidarity with the Yazidi community in Rojava, describing what is happening against the Yazidis in the Syrian areas occupied by Turkey and the armed opposition factions loyal to it, especially in #Afrin# and Serêkaniyê / Ras al-Ain of violations and practices, is a continuation of the genocidal campaigns against the Yazidi community and followers of the Yazidi religion.
The Director General of Yazidi Affairs in the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Khairy Bouzani, told Ezdina that the practices and violations committed against the Yazidis of Syria Rojava, including killings, kidnappings, displacement and looting of property, are no less serious than what happened to the Yazidis in Shengal/Sinjar, at the hands of the terrorist organization ISIS, includes killing, torture, displacement, kidnapping of women, selling them in markets, trafficking them and killing their children.
Bouzani added that the Directorate of Yazidi Affairs constantly seeks to support their Yazidi brothers in Syria by providing them with a helping hand and assisting them in several aspects, pointing out that the Ministry of Endowments for Yazidi affairs communicates and explains the conditions of the Yazidis of Syria to all humanitarian and human rights organizations that visit the Kurdistan region of Iraq, He explained that these organizations promised to provide support to the Yazidis of Syria.
Bouzani indicated that the Yazidis of the Kurdistan region of Iraq suffered from the many fermans that were subjected to the Yazidis of Syria Rojava at the hands of the armed factions of the Turkish occupation state, and that the Yazidis of the Kurdistan Region and the Yazidis of Rojava are brothers who are not separated by borders.
For his part, the Yazidi journalist Diab Khalaf told Ezdina, that Yazidis in Syria were subjected to many fermans at the hands of the armed factions loyal to the Turkish occupation forces, and that despite the tragic conditions of the Yazidis in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, where more than two hundred thousand Yazidis live in the camps, they are also suffering. What happened and is happening to their Yezidi peers in Syria Rojava.
The role of the spiritual community
Diab added that the biggest responsibility to help the Yazidis of Syria falls on the shoulders of the spiritual community, and that they must do their duty towards the Yazidis and visit them in Rojava, know their conditions, learn about their suffering, and show the truth about the violations that happen to them in front of the media, so that their voice reaches the whole world .
Diab confirmed their failure as Yazidi media to cover what happened to the Yazidis of Syria Rojava, especially the forced displacement and attacks against them in Serêkaniyê/Ras al-Ain and Afrin, pointing to the transformation of Yazidi centers after the Turkish occupation into military headquarters, especially the Yazidis Union center in Afrin, which became the headquarters of the Turkish occupation army and its armed factions.
Diab called on stakeholders and those interested in Yazidi affairs to pay more attention to the Yazidi issue in Syria, especially the Yazidis who have been subjected to violations and inhumane practices in the occupied areas, pointing out that all indicators in those areas indicate a serious situation for the Yazidis of Syria and their future in the region.
The displacement of the Yazidis from their areas
In turn, the journalist Khalil Shangali told Ezdina, that the Yazidis of Rojava in Syria were forcibly displaced from their homes during the attacks of the Turkish occupation forces and its armed factions on the region, and that the ferman against the Yazidis of Rojava is no less dangerous than the ferman. which was issued against the Yazidis of Shengal at the hands of the terrorist organization “ISIS” in 2014, indicating that many Yazidis of Shingal are still missing, where the Yazidi community knows nothing about their fate.
Shangali added that the Yazidi community was subjected to 74 fermans, targeting the Yazidis in the four parts of Kurdistan, noting that most of the Yazidis in the areas occupied by Turkey and its loyal factions in Rojava were displaced from their homes and forced to leave their property as a result of being targeted by warplanes and all weapons. Including the internationally prohibited ones that were used in the city of Serêkaniyê/Ras Al-Ain in 2019.
Shangali added that the Yazidis who did not leave their homes and lands in the occupied areas, especially Afrin, are subjected to daily violations, as they are forced to convert to Islam and leave their Yazidi religion, in addition to imposing large financial ransoms on them just because they are Yazidis.
Policies targeting the Yazidi community
Shangali pointed out that there are some policies targeting the Yazidi community and the Yazidi religion, by putting pressure on the Yazidis of Shengal and the Yazidis of Rojava, to leave their religious customs and beliefs, in addition to trying to differentiate and create conflicts between Yazidis everywhere.
It is reported that the Yazidis in Serêkaniyê / Ras al-Ain used to live in several villages, namely “Al-Sukaria, Tal Al-Banat, Alouk, Dardara, Tal Sakhr, Jan Tamer, Al-Asadiya”, in addition to the Zardasht neighborhood in the city, but they were almost completely forcibly displaced from their villages and homes, As a result of the Turkish military attacks on the region in October of 2019.
It is worth noting that the number of Yazidis in the Afrin region before its occupation was approximately 35,000, according to unofficial statistics. However, since the Turkish occupation forces and the militias of the Syrian opposition loyal to them took control of the region on March 18, 2018, only less than a thousand people remained in it, according to the census secret done by Ezdina team in 2020.[1]