PM Barzani congratulates Yezidi community on Jamayi Feast

The Prime Minister emphasized the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) commitment to supporting the Yezidi people. “The KRG will always support the legitimate rights of the Yezidis and considers serving them as its first duty,” he added.

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani. (Photo: Kurdistan24)
Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani. (Photo: Kurdistan24)

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Saturday extended his warmest congratulations to the Yezidi community on the occasion of the Jamayi Feast, a significant religious event for the faith.

“I congratulate the Jamayi Feast to all Yezidi brothers and sisters in Kurdistan and the world, the Mir, Baba Sheikh, and the spiritual community, and hope you will spend the holiday happily,” Barzani said in a statement.

The Prime Minister emphasized the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) commitment to supporting the Yezidi people. “The KRG will always support the legitimate rights of the Yezidis and considers serving them as its first duty,” he added.

The Jamayi Feast, also known as "Ziyarat" (pilgrimage), is an important religious occasion that begins on October 6 and lasts until October 13. Yezidis from around the world gather at Lalish Temple, the faith’s holiest site, to participate in a series of rituals over a seven-day period.

The Yezidi community has faced significant challenges in recent years, particularly during the ISIS takeover of Iraq in 2014. Thousands of Yezidis were killed or enslaved when ISIS forces overran Sinjar, a predominantly Yezidi town in the Nineveh Plains. To this day, around 3,000 Yezidi members remain missing.

The atrocities committed by ISIS against the Yezidis have been officially recognized by the United Nations as genocide. Kurdistan Region officials, including Prime Minister Barzani, have reiterated their commitment to supporting the Yezidi community in their ongoing struggle for justice and recovery.