G.M.K Team
G.M.K Team
رد: Religion in Kurdistan
Armenia and Georgia, perhaps 10,000 in Turkey, while only 5,000 are said to live in Syria.9
In Iraq there are two main geographical concentrations of Yezidis, in the Shaikhan district
north of Mosul where their most important sanctuary, the shrine of Shaikh Adi at Lalish, is
located, and on Mount Sinjar to the west of that city stretching into Syria. In the 1970s both
regions were subjected to Iraq's policy of arabisation. Numerous villages were evacuated, and
Arabs were later settled there. In Syria we find Yezidis not only in the Syrian part of Mount
Sinjar but also in the mountains north of Aleppo known as Kürt Dagı ("the Kurdish
Mountains"), as well as in a few villages in the upper Mesopotamian plain west of Qamishli.
Many of the Kurdish tribes here and in the contiguous part of Turkey used to be Yezidis but
have now become Muslims.
In the nineteenth century, Turkish censuses still recorded Yezidis as far north-west as
Sivas and in the Diyarbakir, Mardin and Siirt districts. Religious persecution has greatly
reduced their numbers. Many were killed, numerous others converted either to Christianity or
to Islam. Since the attitude of the Christian churches towards the Yezidis was more
benevolent than that of most Muslims, individual Yezidis preferred conversion to
Christianity. A fair number of the present West Syrian Christians are in all likelihood the
descendants of converted Yezidis. More recently the continued existence of the West Syrian
community itself has come under threat, making conversion to Islam a more secure
alternative.10 Severall tribes that were still reported to be in whole or in part Yezidis a century
ago, such as the Milli, the Berazi and the Hevêrkan, are now entirely Muslim — at least in
outward behaviour. The remaining Yezidis in Turkey live under great pressure of
discrimination if not persecution. Many have left for Germany as workers; since work permits
are no longer given, the remainder of the community is attempting to join them as refugees.11
In the Trans-caucasian republics the Yezidis have been relatively free of persecution. They
probably constitute the majority of the Kurds in both Armenia and Georgia. As a result the
studies of Kurdish folklore made by Soviet scholars concern specifically Yezidi folklore. In
9 John S. Guest, The Yezidis: A Study in Survival (London and New York: KPI, 1987), p. 197. Guest's estimate
of only 5,000 in Syria seems too low to me.
10 In 1975 I met a person in Idil (near Cizre) who had been born a Yezidi, had converted to Christianity at a
young age and had become a Muslim at a more recent date.
11 See Robin Schneider, ed., Die kurdischen Yezidi: Ein Volk auf dem Weg in den Untergang (Göttingen:
Gesellschaft für Bedrohte Völker, 1984).
In Iraq there are two main geographical concentrations of Yezidis, in the Shaikhan district
north of Mosul where their most important sanctuary, the shrine of Shaikh Adi at Lalish, is
located, and on Mount Sinjar to the west of that city stretching into Syria. In the 1970s both
regions were subjected to Iraq's policy of arabisation. Numerous villages were evacuated, and
Arabs were later settled there. In Syria we find Yezidis not only in the Syrian part of Mount
Sinjar but also in the mountains north of Aleppo known as Kürt Dagı ("the Kurdish
Mountains"), as well as in a few villages in the upper Mesopotamian plain west of Qamishli.
Many of the Kurdish tribes here and in the contiguous part of Turkey used to be Yezidis but
have now become Muslims.
In the nineteenth century, Turkish censuses still recorded Yezidis as far north-west as
Sivas and in the Diyarbakir, Mardin and Siirt districts. Religious persecution has greatly
reduced their numbers. Many were killed, numerous others converted either to Christianity or
to Islam. Since the attitude of the Christian churches towards the Yezidis was more
benevolent than that of most Muslims, individual Yezidis preferred conversion to
Christianity. A fair number of the present West Syrian Christians are in all likelihood the
descendants of converted Yezidis. More recently the continued existence of the West Syrian
community itself has come under threat, making conversion to Islam a more secure
alternative.10 Severall tribes that were still reported to be in whole or in part Yezidis a century
ago, such as the Milli, the Berazi and the Hevêrkan, are now entirely Muslim — at least in
outward behaviour. The remaining Yezidis in Turkey live under great pressure of
discrimination if not persecution. Many have left for Germany as workers; since work permits
are no longer given, the remainder of the community is attempting to join them as refugees.11
In the Trans-caucasian republics the Yezidis have been relatively free of persecution. They
probably constitute the majority of the Kurds in both Armenia and Georgia. As a result the
studies of Kurdish folklore made by Soviet scholars concern specifically Yezidi folklore. In
9 John S. Guest, The Yezidis: A Study in Survival (London and New York: KPI, 1987), p. 197. Guest's estimate
of only 5,000 in Syria seems too low to me.
10 In 1975 I met a person in Idil (near Cizre) who had been born a Yezidi, had converted to Christianity at a
young age and had become a Muslim at a more recent date.
11 See Robin Schneider, ed., Die kurdischen Yezidi: Ein Volk auf dem Weg in den Untergang (Göttingen:
Gesellschaft für Bedrohte Völker, 1984).