ISTANBUL
Ezidis in Turkey are marking 12 months since “genocidal” Daesh attacks targeted their community in northern Iraq.
Some estimates suggest that 5,000 members of the religious minority were killed by the extremist militants, while nearly 7,000 women and children were abducted.
"It is a genocide; there is no other word to define such mass killings," said psychologist Azat Baris who spoke on behalf of the Ezidi Cultural Foundation on Monday in Istanbul.
According to Baris, an Ezidi living in Turkey, the reason behind the attacks is that they are a minority trying to live and maintain their culture and beliefs.
"It was not the first massacre targeting Ezidis in history and it will not be the last," said Baris.
"Ezidis were slaughtered 72 times over the past 1,000 years and Daesh made the 73rd last year," he added.
In 2014, Daesh attacked Sinjar, which is home to many Ezidi Kurds, capturing a large number of civilians, including women who were then allegedly subjected to slavery in the northern Iraqi province of Ninawah.
Thousands of Ezidis were forced to flee to nearby mountains and neighboring cities and countries, prompting an international humanitarian outcry.
Ezidis believe in God and seven angels, the leader of which is named 'Malak Tawous.' Malak Tawous is regarded as a devil in Islam, earning Ezidis a reputation as 'devil worshippers.'
The community blames these religious prejudices for the murderous attacks by Daesh.
Ali Atalan, an Ezidi member of the Turkish parliament for the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), said around 40,000 displaced Ezidi people were spread across Iraq and Syria, including 10,000 in Turkey.
Saying that the number of Ezidi people had fallen through history due to religious persecution, Atalan added: "The number of Ezidis could have been 40 million today, but they faced genocide many times."
Estimates put the total Ezidi population across the world at approximately 700,000 people. They are concentrated in northern Iraq, in and around Sinjar – their traditional home – but also live in as minorities in countries like Syria, Turkey, Iran, Georgia and Armenia.
Turkey has estimated 300 Ezidi residents – without including numbers of recent refugees. They live in towns near the southern Turkish cities of Sanliurfa, Batman, Mardin and Diyarbakir – close to the Syrian border.
Their numbers were around 80,000 in the 1970s; since then the majority of Ezidis have migrated from Turkey to Europe, especially in the 1980s, mixed up in the wave of Turkish emigration to Germany.
Stating that they want the international community to “hear the scream” of persecuted Ezidis, Atalan said: "This is genocide and we want Turkey to be the first country to recognize this massacre as a genocide."
Atalan said there was still a silent resistance in Sinjar against Daesh: "We want Turkey to support the silent scream of Ezidis and help them."
