Attack against historical Ezidi cemetery

by Roni Alasor

Brussels, 05 April 2020 - Middle East Diplomatic- The historical Ezidi cemetery in Turkey has been attacked and extensively destroyed. Kurdish Ezidi communities condemn the ruthlessness vandalism act and they ask to the Turkish state to bring the perpetrators to justice. The Kurdish Ezidi community has been targeted by Islamic states in the Middle East in centuries, the latest attack was organised by the Islamic terror states ISIS/Daesh in 2014 where many thousands of Kurdish Yezidi women-girls-children has been kidnapped, sold and raped.  

The 300 years historical cemetery, called Hesen Beg, is located in near the village of Mezrê (Çilesiz) in the Nusaybin district of Mardin province on the Turkish-Syrian border. The graves in the purely Ezidi cemetery were devastated, gravestones were smashed and reliefs and sculptures with Ezidi symbolism were destroyed. The criminal acts against Kurdish Ezidi graves happened on 26 march 2020.

The Kurdish Ezidi community has been once again shocked by a such ruthlessness vandalism act and they condemn the crime in the strongest terms. I a press release, 34 Kurdish Ezidi associations, organisations and institutions reacted strongly against the criminal act and called the turkish state to find out perpetrators who are behind  the grave desecrations.

“It is a heinous act in the spirit of inhumanity and malice. The large-scale systematic destruction of the cemetery, which is some 300 years old, shows that Ezidis in the Middle East can neither live entirely in peace and security nor are their dead or their ancestors granted the self-evident right of "last rest". The wanton destruction was a deliberate attack against the Ezidi community, against their identity and against their humanistic compass of values. For the cemetery not only symbolizes - as for every religious community - a place of sacred peace, but with its long history it also has a high symbolic and historical value for the Ezidi".

“It shows that the Ezidis still regard their villages in Turkey as their original homeland. Already in the past decades there have been repeated systematic and deliberate devastations of Ezidi cemeteries in Turkey. It is therefore not just a one-time or accidental destruction by any vandals. Rather, the devastation has a system and pursues the goal of erasing the memory of the Ezidi, their culture and religion from the surface of the picture forever”.

“We therefore appeal first and foremost to the Turkish state and its criminal and regulatory authorities to investigate and bring the perpetrator or perpetrators to justice. The Ezidis have been at home in the region for thousands of years. They are a part of Turkey. It is the responsibility of the state to protect and enforce the law against all its citizens. The Ezidis have initiated appropriate criminal charges within the framework of Turkish law”.

Ezidi Communities in Germany :

1. Yezidi Forum Oldenburg (r.a.)

2. Yezidischer Kulturverein Ostfriesland (r.a.)

3. German Yezidi Cultural Association Hanover (r.a.)

4. Yezidi Community Osterholz (r.a.)

5. Ezidi Centre Baden-Württemberg (r.a.)

6. Ezidi Community Rhineland-Palatinate e.V.

7. Ezidi Culture-Centre in Bremen and Surroundings (r.a.)

8. Ezidi Centre Münster (r.a.)

9. Community of the Ezidi in Bochum (r.a.)

10. Ezidi Community Emmerich (r.a.)

11. Ezidi Community Bergen (r.a.)

12. Centre of the Ezidi in Göttingen (r.a.)

13. Ezidi Community Gütersloh (r.a.)

14. Ezidi Cultural Association Heidekreis (r.a.)

15. Ezidi Community Verden (r.a.)

16. Ezidi Community Bielefeld-OWL

17. Cultural and social association Kaniya Spi Bielefeld (r.a.)

18. Ezidi Community Nienburg (r.a.)

Associations in Germany

1. Central association of the Ezidi (NAV-YÊK) (r.a.)

2. Association of Ezidi Lawyers (VEJ) (r.a.)

3. Association of Ezidi Artists (NHÊ)

4. Umbrella Organisation of the Women`s Counsil (r.a.)

5. Ezidi Centre for Art and Culture (NCÊ)

6. Society of Ezidi Academics (GEA) (r.a.)

7. Union of the Ezidi from Syria (YES)

8. Coordination of the Ezidi village councils in Turkey

Media/organisations in Germany

1. Çira TV (r.a.)

2. Free Voice (DRA)

3. Aid and Solidarity association of the village community Oguz (r.a.)

4. Aid and solidarity association of the village community Dinckök (r.a.).

5. Exile Council of Sinjar

6. German-Kurdish Friendship Association Senden e.V. (DKFK)

7. Yezidi Costume Society (r.a.)

8. Foundation for Human Rights "Ezdina Foundation" Cologne