Country: Syria

Group: Yazidi

Date Finalized: 11/15/2022

Team: Gabriel Cardenas (lead), Ash Pessaran, Isabella Boker, Erin Fagan, Amaya Tanhueco, Hannah Lux

Content Warning: Genocide, Sexual Slavery, Forced marriages, Forced religious conversion

Approximate Time Period: 21st century

            There is substantial evidence to conclude that the Turkish government, non-Yazidi Kurds, and Islamic State (ISIS) armed forces have committed ethnocide against the Yazidi people in northern Syria. The Yazidi make up 1 percent of the population of Syria, with their world population mainly in Iraq (Minority Rights Group, 2017). Some Yazidis identify as ethnically Kurds, and others view themselves as ethnically distinct from Kurds. The group is found in northern Syria, and northern and western Iraq, where they follow the Yazidi religion (Minority Rights Group, 2017). Less specific information can be found regarding the Yazidi in Syria, but because the Yazidi encounter the exact same violence and discrimination that the Kurds face, this report will use evidence of ethnocide and violence conducted against the Kurds as well the Yazidi.

            The Yazidi hold the belief that there have been 74 accounts of genocide against them in the past 800 years (Kizilhan, 2017). Within the 21st century, non-Yazidi Kurds, ISIS and the Turkish armed forces have perpetuated genocide and ethnocide against the Yazidi. In August 2014, ISIS forces gained control of Yazidi areas in Iraq and Syria (Kizilhan, 2017). They forced many Yazidis to convert to Sunni Islam and murdered over 7,000 people. Countless more fled the region into Syria (Kizilhan, 2017). ISIS forces abducted thousands of women and children forced them into marriages and sexual slavery (Minority Rights Group, 2017). ISIS attacks on the Yazidi communities in Iraq have been called a genocide by the United Nations (Minority Rights Group, 2017). The Turkish armed forces occupying northern Syria have participated in ethnic cleansing campaigns against Yazidi communities (Chapman, 2021). They, like ISIS, have occupied Yazidi settlements, and forced Yazidi to convert to Islam. They have kidnapped Yazidi, destroyed cultural heritage sites, and desecrated Yezidi shrines (Chapman, 2021). The fear of continual Turkish incursions and genocide on the Kurds and Yazidis is ever present (Center for Prevention Action, 2021; Dag, 2020). The last account of ethnocide against the Yazidi is that of the Kurdish forced marriages and assimilation. In 2003, with the invasion of Iraq on the horizon, the Yazidi faced increased persecution (Minority Rights Group, 2017). Kurdish armed forces abducted Yazidi women and forcibly married them. Yazidi believe in marrying only Yazidi. If one marries outside of their religion, they must renounce all ties to their faith, and must identify as Kurdish, thus losing connection with their families and communities (Minority Rights Group, 2017).

Data Quality: The data quality for Yazidis in Syria is (2/3). Although finding information on the Yazidi proved to be relatively easy, finding specific Syrian Yazidi information is difficult.

Sources

  1. Yezidis. (November 2017). Minority Rights Group International. https://minorityrights.org/minorities/yezidis/ 
  2. Kizilhan, J. (2017) The Yazidi—Religion, Culture and Trauma. Advances in Anthropology, 7, 333-339. doi: 10.4236/aa.2017.74019.
  3. Center for Preventive Action, (03 August 2022). Global Conflict Tracker. https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/conflict-between-turkey-and-armed-kurdish-groups
  4. Chapman, L. (20 May 2021). Ethnic cleansing of Yezidis continues in Turkish-occupied Syria, say activist and experts. North Press Agency. https://npasyria.com/en/59567/
  5. Dag, V. (17 July 2020). The looming genocide against the Kurds: history should not repeat itself. Open Democracy. https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/north-africa-west-asia/looming-genocide-against-kurds-history-should-not-repeat-itself/