Kurdistan celebrates 27th anniversary of Lalish Cultural Center for Yezidis

On Tuesday, top Kurdistan Region officials congratulated Yezidis (Ezidis) in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq on this year's anniversary of the Lalish Cultural Center, an organization created by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) after the fall of the former Iraqi regime which keeps a presence in areas populated by the religious minority.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – On Tuesday, top Kurdistan Region officials congratulated Yezidis (Ezidis) in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq on this year's anniversary of the Lalish Cultural Center, an organization created by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) after the fall of the former Iraqi regime which keeps a presence in areas populated by the religious minority.

The organization is named for the Ezidis' most holy site, the temple of Lalish in Duhok province.

“On the twenty-seventh anniversary of the foundation of Lalish Center for Culture and Societal, I congratulate its president, members and all of my Ezidi brothers and sisters. I wish them success in their work and ventures,” said Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani in a statement.

“The Lalish Cultural Center has a rich history in serving the Kurdish culture, especially in preserving the societal customs and culture of the Ezidis. I thank and support the efforts of the members of your institution, and wish you continued work and development,” he added.

The night before, KDP leader Masoud Barzani conveyed similar sentiments in his own statement, saying, “Ladies and gentlemen, president and members of the Lalish Center, on the twenty-seventh anniversary of the formation of the Lalish Cultural Center, we congratulate you, and our Ezidi brothers and sisters. We value your work, appreciate your accomplishments and efforts to develop the cultural and social situation of the Ezidi brothers and brothers.”

Barzani also voiced his support for the Ezidi community as a whole, and especially his best wishes for their society to heal as a whole after being persecuted by the Islamic State.

The emergence of the terrorist group and its violent 2014 assault on the Ezidi-majority city of Sinjar (Shingal) led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Ezidis. Most of them fled to the Kurdistan Region, while others resettled in neighboring countries in the region or Western states.

Others were not as lucky and remained stranded in the war zone, where they experienced atrocities and mass executions at the hands of the extremist group for years. Militants subjected women and girls to sexual slavery, kidnapped children, forced religious conversions, executed scores of men, and abused, sold, and trafficked women across areas they controlled in Iraq and Syria, actions now widely recognized as genocide

Before the 2014 attack, there were roughly 550,000 Ezidis in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq. As the jihadist group took over large swaths of territory in Nineveh Province, 360,000 Ezidis escaped and found refuge elsewhere, according to the Ezidi Rescue Office.

Editing by John J. Catherine