Sama Channel launch: a new beacon for Yezidi culture
This initiative is made possible through the direct support of Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – In an exciting development for the Yazidi community worldwide, the Lalish Cultural and Social Center on Sunday announced the upcoming launch of Sama Channel, a media foundation dedicated to preserving Yazidi culture and art.
This initiative is made possible through the direct support of Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani. The new channel promises to be a significant platform for celebrating and promoting Yezidi's heritage.
In Aug. 2014, ISIS militants attacked the Yezidi-majority town of Sinjar and nearby villages, killing at least 5,000 Yezidis as well as enslaving about 6,000 women and minors. Around 400,000 others were displaced by the offensive.
Most of the religious community fled to the Kurdistan Region, while others resettled in neighboring countries 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 and human trafficking kidnapped children, forced religious conversions, and executed scores of men.
Over the nine years since then, much of Sinjar remains in rubble, and very few of its former residents have returned to their homes.
The Kurdish-Kurmanji-speaking community has suffered at least 72 genocides.
European countries, including Germany, have hosted a significant number of Yezidis fleeing violence. Nearly 10,000 Yezidis were killed or kidnapped by ISIS.
The United Nations later recognized the atrocities against the Yazidi people as genocide.
More than 3,500 Yezidis have been rescued so far, according to the Kurdistan Regional Government.