WATCH: Body of late Yezidi leader repatriated from Germany to be buried in Kurdistan

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - The body of the late Yezidi leader Mir Tahseen Beg returned from Germany to the autonomous Kurdistan Region on Monday for a special ceremony and burial.

Local and regional officials, as well as foreign envoys, were present as Beg's body landed at the Erbil International Airport (EIA).

He died aged 86 on Jan. 28 in Germany's Hanover after a lengthy battle against an illness.

Mir Tahseen (Tahsin) 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.

Beg's ceremonial burial will be held on Tuesday in his hometown of Shekhan, located in the province of Duhok.

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

“Mir Tahseen took part in the Kurdistan revolution [in the 1960s] and later faced hard times for his involvement,” the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani, said during the ceremony.

Beg had repeatedly encouraged Ezidis to participate in the political process in Iraq as he was working hard to fulfill his national duties, according to Barzani.

The Kurdish leader also expressed his support for the reconstruction of the demolished Ezidi town of Sinjar (Shingal) and to have it promoted to the status of Province. “Rescuing our Ezidi brothers and sisters [from the Islamic State] will remain our priority.”

Editing by Nadia Riva