Haydar Shesho is a Kurdish Yazidi military commander in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. He is the founder and supreme commander of the Yazidi self-defense militia Protection Force of Ezidkhan (HPÊ).

Life

Shesho's family emigrated from

under

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...

in 1990 to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and became German citizens. Until summer 2014 they lived in

Bad Oeynhausen Bad Oeynhausen () is a spa town on the southern edge of the Wiehengebirge in the district of Minden-Lübbecke in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe, East-Westphalia-Lippe region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The closest larger towns are Bielefeld (39 ki ...

, Germany. At the onset of the August 2014

Sinjar massacre The Sinjar massacre () marked the beginning of the genocide of Yazidis by ISIL, the killing and abduction of thousands of Yazidi men, women and children. It took place in August 2014 in Sinjar city and Sinjar District in Iraq's Nineveh Governora ...

, together with his uncle Qasim Shesho and several cousins, he returned to Iraq to help protect his Yazidi homeland. Starting with a handful of fighters, he founded the

Protection Force of Sinjar Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although th ...

, which has about 2,500 fighters. While he and his uncle, dubbed "The lion of Sinjar," were known to be supportive of the

Kurdistan Regional Government The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) ( ku, حکوومەتی هەرێمی کوردستان, ''Hikûmetî Herêmî Kurdistan'') is the official executive body of the autonomous Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq. The cabinet is selected by the m ...

and

Iraqi Kurdish Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan ( ku, باشووری کوردستان, Başûrê Kurdistanê) refers to the Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of "Kurdistan" in Western Asia, which also inc ...

president Barzani's

Kurdistan Democratic Party The Kurdistan Democratic Party ( ku, Partiya Demokrat a Kurdistanê; پارتی دیموکراتی کوردستان), usually abbreviated as KDP or PDK, is the largest party in Iraqi Kurdistan and the senior partner in the Kurdistan Regional Gov ...

, he refused to pledge allegiance and publicly insisted they "fight only for Yazidis, not for any party." Subsequently, Haydar Shesho was arrested on 5 April 2015 by Iraqi Kurdish forces for "creating an illegitimate new militia." He was released a week later after it was negotiated that he would register in the Ministry of Peshmerga.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shesho, Haydar 20th-century births Living people Iraqi Yazidis German Yazidis Iraqi emigrants to Germany Naturalized citizens of Germany Year of birth missing (living people)

Life

See also

References