Yazidis Yazidis or Yezidis (; ku, ئێزیدی, translit=Êzidî) are a Kurmanji-speaking Endogamy, endogamous minority group who are indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran ...

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 ...

live mainly in the Sinjar region and the Nineveh Plains, which are located within the

Nineveh Governorate Nineveh Governorate ( ar, محافظة نينوى, syr, ܗܘܦܪܟܝܐ ܕܢܝܢܘܐ, Hoparkiya d’Ninwe, ckb, پارێزگای نەینەوا, Parêzgeha Neynewa), also known as Ninawa Governorate, is a governorate in northern Iraq. It has an ...

in north-western

Demography

According to estimates, the number of Yazidis in Iraq is up to 700,000. According to the

Yazda Yazda: Global Yazidi Organization (, ar, يزدا; ku, یەزدا ,Yazda), is a United States-based global Yazidi nonprofit, non-governmental organization (NGO) advocacy, aid, and relief organization. Yazda was established to support the Yazidi ...

aid organization, just over half a million Yazidis lived throughout Iraq before August 2014.

Settlement areas

The settlement area of the Yazidis in Iraq includes the districts of

Sinjar Sinjar ( ar, سنجار, Sinjār; ku, شنگال, translit=Şingal, syr, ܫܝܓܪ, Shingar) is a town in the Sinjar District of the Nineveh Governorate in northern Iraq. It is located about five kilometers south of the Sinjar Mountains. Its p ...

, Tel Kaif, al-Hamdaniya and Shekhan of the

in north-western Iraq. Other Yazidi settlement areas are in the

Simele Simele or Semel ( ku, سێمێل, translit=Sêmêl, ar, سميل, Syriac: ܣܡܠܐ) is a town located in the Dohuk province of Kurdistan Region in Iraq. The town is on the main road that connects Kurdistan Region to its neighbor Turkey. It is w ...

district and in the

Zakho Zakho, also spelled Zaxo ( ku, زاخۆ, Zaxo, syr, ܙܵܟ݂ܘܿ, Zākhō, , ) is a city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, at the centre of the eponymous Zakho District of the Dohuk Governorate, located a few kilometers from the Iraq–Turkey bo ...

district in the

Duhok governorate ar, محافظة دهوك , image_skyline = Collage_of_Dohuk_Governorate.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_seal = ...

History

In 1585, the Yazidis in the Sinjar Mountain were attacked by the

Kurds ug:كۇردلار Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Ir ...

from

Bohtan Bohtan (also Buhtan, ''Bokhti'') was a medieval Kurdish principality in the Ottoman Empire centered on the town of Jazirah ibn 'Omar (modern Cizre also known as ''Cizîra Botan'' (''Jazira Botan'') in southeastern Anatolia. Bohtanis were an an ...

. In 1832, the Kurdish princes Bedirkhan Beg and

Muhammad Pasha of Rawanduz Muhammad Pasha of Rawanduz (; also known as ''Mirê Kor'' - the "blind prince"; born in Rawandiz; 1783–1838) was Kurdish Mir of the Soran Emirate (1813–1838). He led an unsuccessful attack against the Emirate of Botan of Bedir Khan Beg in 183 ...

attacked Yazidis in the Shekhan region and carried out a massacre of Yazidis with the help of their troops. Almost the entire Yazidi population of Shekhan was murdered as a result. After the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

was divided and the

British Mandate of Mesopotamia The Mandate for Mesopotamia ( ar, الانتداب البريطاني على العراق) was a proposed League of Nations mandate to cover Ottoman Iraq (Mesopotamia). It would have been entrusted to the United Kingdom but was superseded by the ...

was established (which is one of the predecessors of the state of Iraq), the Yazidis living in what is now Iraq were separated from the

Yazidis in Turkey Yazidism in Turkey refers to adherents of Yazidism from Turkey, who remained in Turkey after the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. The Yazidis living in Turkey during and after the second half of the 20th century gradually left for European count ...

and the

Yazidis in Syria Yazidis in Syria refer to people born in or residing in Syria who adhere to Yazidism, a strictly endogamous religion. Yazidis speak the Kurdish language of Kurmanji. Although some are scattered in Turkey and the Armenia, Iraq is the center of ...

. On August 14, 2007, the Yazidis in Iraq were victims of the

2007 Yazidi communities bombings The 2007 Yazidi communities bombings occurred on August 14, 2007, when four coordinated suicide car bomb attacks detonated in the Yazidi towns of Til Ezer (al-Qahtaniyah) and Siba Sheikh Khidir (al-Jazirah), in northern Iraq. There were 796 pe ...

, which killed 796 people. On August 3, 2014, the

Islamic State An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...

committed genocide against Yazidis in the

region of northern Iraq, killing an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 Yazidis and abducting another 6,000 to 7,000 Yazidis women and children.

Flight and migration

Due to

persecution Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these term ...

, many Yazidis fled Iraq, including over 75,000 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 ...

since 2015.

Notable people

Nadia Murad Nadia Murad Basee Taha (; ar, نادية مراد باسي طه; born 10 March 1993) is an Iraqi Yazidis, Yazidi Human rights activists, human rights activist who lives in Germany. In 2014, she was kidnapped from her hometown Kocho, Iraq, Koch ...

(Yazidi human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner)

References

External links

{{Yazidi diaspora

Ethnic groups in Iraq Religion in Iraq Middle Eastern diaspora in Iraq