ANTHONY PIZZOFERRATO

// Yazidi Armenia //

A large population of Yazidis live in the villages of Rya Taza and Alagyaz, located in Aragatsotn Province (an hour northwest of Yerevan). They have lived in these villages for decades. Yazidis, like Armenians, have a large diaspora and have had to leave their homelands multiple times throughout history due to genocide and religious persecution. Many Yazidis decided to seek shelter in Armenia and nearby Georgia when they were being persecuted by ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) in Iraq from 2014 to 2017. There is a small Yazidi temple in the heart of Rya Taza. The world’s largest Yazidi temple is located south of Yerevan in Aknalitch of Armavir Province. It is known as Quba Mere Diwane Temple and was completed in 2019.

The Yazidis refer to themselves as “Êzîdî” or “Dasinî.” Some scholars have discovered many similarities between the Yazidis, Yaresan, and Kurdish Alevis. These three religions can be traced back to an ancient faith that likely was dominate among western Iranic peoples. The word “Yazidi” means “the servant of the creator,” and some scholars believe it derives from the Old Iranian word “Yazata,” meaning “divine being.” Yazidis often say “Xwedê ez dam” (“God created me”) and “Em miletê ezdaîn” (“We are the Ezdayi nation”). They believe in one God who created the world, and also that they are under the care of a Heptad of seven Holy Beings, often known as angels or heft sirr (the Seven Mysteries). An interesting fact about Yazidis is that they do not eat pork, cabbage, or anything that is blue. During the month of March, they bake the largest gata (a sweet pastry). Each household does this, and the size of the gata they bake depends on how many people live in the home. They place a coin inside the gata, believing that whoever finds the coin will receive good luck. When entering a Yazidi temple, you must take off your shoes (which is practiced by Muslims when they enter a mosque) and step over the entrance. When exiting the temple, you must exit with your right foot, not your left foot.

Genetically speaking, some modern Yazidis identify as a subset of the Kurdish people, while others identify as a separate ethno-religious group. In Armenia and Iraq, Yazidis are recognized as a distinct ethnic group. In recent history, Kurds have developed a genetic profile called "Modal Kurdish Haplotype" (KMH or MKMH for Muslim Kurds) on subclade J2-M172. The highest percentage of this haplotype has been found among Yazidis living in Armenia.

According to a 2011 census, there are over 35,200 Yazidis living in Armenia, making them the largest ethnic minority in the country. They account for 1.2% of the population in Armenia. Most are descendants of refugees who fled to Armenia to escape Ottoman rule. The Ottomans persecuted both Yazidis and Armenians during the Armenian Genocide from 1915 to 1917.

Yazidism is the ethnic religion of the Yazidi people. It is monotheistic, having roots in a pre-Zoroastrian Iranic faith. The religion has been practiced for over 7,000 years and is found predominately in Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Armenia, and Georgia. However, there are several diaspora communities in Germany, France, Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Russia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and the United States (including Lincoln, Nebraska and Houston, Texas). Many of the men of these communities even served as translators for the U.S. military during wars in the Middle East.

The largest Yazidi community lives in Iraq, and it is estimated to contain between 70,000 and 500,000 people. The community is concentrated in northern Iraq, in the Nineveh Governorate in Shekhan District, which is northeast of Mosul and Sinjar District (close to the Syrian border). During the Saddam Hussein regime, many villagers were forcibly relocated from their homes, and their historical villages were destroyed by Ba’athists. The Yazidis were under Saddam Hussein’s Arabisation process from 1970 to 2003, and similar political tactics were also used in the Kurdistan region (including Nineveh Province) to make them identify as Kurds. Many Yazidis did serve with the Kurdish Peshmerga in Iraq between 2014 and 2017 to fight ISIL, which had declared Yazidis as devil worshippers.

Since the 14th century, Yazidis have created both religious and political administrative centers, where the territory is divided into seven different centers. Each one has its own Sincaq (commonly known as “Tawis”), which is a bronze peacock idol symbolizing power. The administrative centers are listed below:

Tawisa Enzel: Welatşêx (Şêxan) - Lalish

Tawisa Şingalê: Shingal Region

Tawisa Hekkarê: Historical region of Hakkari (Hakkari, Şırnak, Van, and Duhok)

Tawisa Welatê Xalta: Region around Siirt, Batman, Diyarbakir, Mardin, etc.

Tawisa Helebê: Aleppo and Afrin, Syria

Tawisa Tewrêzê: Tabriz, Iran

Tawisa Misqofa (Moscow): Renamed from Tawisa Serhedê after the exodus of the Yazidis from Serhed to the Russian Empire. (Serhed is a region covering the cities of Kars, Ardahan, Erzurum, Ağri, Van, Bitlis, and Muş)

Yazidis have endured systematic violence since the early Muslim conquests of the 7th and 8th centuries. They faced persecution by Turks during the days of the Ottoman Empire, and also by Arabs of the Iraqi government in the 20th century. The Turks and Arabs both forced them to convert to Islam. More than 500,000 Yazidis were forced to flee their homeland due to the 2014 Yazidi genocide committed by the Islamic State. Over 5,000 were killed, and thousands of women and young girls were forced into sex slavery or murdered if they did not convert to Islam.

In August, 2014, ISIL captured Sinjar and the Kurdish Peshmerga forces withdrew, which forced 50,000 Yazidis to leave. UN groups stated that at least 40,000 Yazidis (mostly women and children) took refuge in nine different locations atop the 1,400-meter-high Mount Sinjar while facing slaughter by Jihadists or death by dehydration. An estimated 20,000 to 30,000 escaped Mount Sinjar after the YPG (People’s Protection Units) and PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) intervened and opened a humanitarian corridor for them to cross the Tigris River into Rojava, located in northeastern Syria.

Unfortunately, those who were captured by ISIL were sold as sex slaves or driven to commit suicide. Women and girls were forced to convert to Islam and were sold as brides. Those who refused were tortured, raped, and murdered. In October, 2014, the United Nations estimated that more than 5,000 Yazidis had been murdered, and another 5,000 to 7,000 had been abducted by ISIL. However, the numbers are likely higher than these estimates. Many Yazidi women who escaped ISIL received military training and even took up arms and positions on the frontlines during the final battles to retake their homeland. These women made up close to 1/3 of the Kurdish-Yazidi coalition forces, which fought in the final battles against ISIL.  

Many Yazidis fought with the Armenian Army in the First Nagorno-Karabakh War during the 1990s, as well as the 44 Day War of 2020. Some paid the ultimate sacrifice fighting against Azerbaijan, Turkey, and jihadist extremists. Numerous Yazidi soldiers see parallels between the situations they faced fighting with Kurdish forces against ISIL in Iraq and with Armenian forces against Azerbaijan and its allies.

On this day, spiritual leaders from Iraq paid their respects to fallen Yazidi soldiers who fought with the Armenian Army. On February 17 and February 18, Yazidis worldwide celebrated Khidir Elias Eid, which dates back to about 4,000 B.C. It is celebrated the second week of February each year, and slaughter sacrifices and bloodshed are forbidden during this time. The holiday was created for young men and women. Unmarried people must prepare a special type of salty bread called Qorsik on the evening of Eid and eat three pieces of it before they go to sleep. They believe that, if they dream of a young man or woman offering them a glass of water, they will meet that person in real life, fall in love, and marry them. This is similar to the Saint Sarkis holiday in Armenian tradition.

This is an ongoing project that I will continue to work on for some time. It is funded by myself, my interest in the Yazidi community of Armenia, and my passion for story telling. If you would like to use anything for personal or business purposes, please feel free to message me.

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