ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – President Masoud Barzani has marked the New Year celebration of the Yezidi religious minority with a promise to protect them from “terrorists” calling their ancient community an “indivisible part of Kurdistan.” “No enemy has been ever be able to destroy the Kurdish Yezidis and that is why despite all inhuman acts of the Daesh terrorists against Shingal, they could never demolish your strong will,” Barzani said in a statement released Wedensday, referring to the Arabic acronym of ISIS. In an interview with Rudaw, Dr Dekhil Sheikh Saeed, a well-known Yezidi and former cabinet minister in the Kurdistan Regional Government, said this year's Yezidi new year celebration, or Red Wednesday, will be a poignant event for the faith after suffering cruelly at the hands of ISIS. "An estimated 130,000 Yezidis fled for their lives and sought refuge in the Kurdistan region. How can we be happy when such an outrageous calamity happened to us? Tomorrow we will also commemorate last year’s catastrophe when ISIS took over Shingal in August," Saeed said. Barzani noted that Peshmerga helped to liberate Shingal and sacrificed their lives to protect their Yezidi "brothers and sisters." Shingal, in Mosul province, is the ancestral homeland of the Yezidi faith. Thousands of Yezidi were massacred when ISIS overran the area in August, and as many as 5,000 are still missing. Still, the president stressed the Peshmerga advances in Shingal and nearby areas, announcing that “majority of Shingal district has been liberated by Peshmerga forces.” “Nothing will ever divide the Kurdish Yezidis from Kurdistan and the Kurdish nation,” Barzani said.
