Politics

Yezidi leader Mir Tahseen Beg dies aged 86 in Germany

The leader of the Yezidi (Ezidi) community, Mir Tahseen Saeed Beg, died aged 86 in Germany, according to the Director-General for Ezidi affairs in the Kurdistan Region.

Sangar Ali 2019/01/28 07:00

kurdistan Kurdistan Ezidi Yezidi Iraq Yazidi

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The leader of the Yezidi (Ezidi) community, Mir Tahseen (Tahsin) Saeed Beg, died aged 86 in Germany, according to the Director-General for Ezidi affairs in the Kurdistan Region, Khairi Bozani, on Monday.

“It is with great sorrow that we announce the passing of Emir Tahseen Ali, the Emir of Ezidis around the world, in the city of Hanover, Germany, after a long battle with his illness,” Bozani said in a statement.

The Ezidi community will hold a three-day mourning ceremony in Hanover before transferring the body of Beg to the Kurdistan Region where he will be buried, Beg’s eldest son, Hazim, told Kurdistan 24 on Monday.

Mir Tahseen Beg had been the leader of Ezidis around the world since 1944, following the death of his father. He was also the head of the Ezidi Supreme Spiritual Council.

There are about one million Ezidis worldwide, with almost half of them living in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.