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FINDING NEW FRIENDS
The Economist
Aug 21 2014
In their desperate search for sanctuary, Iraq's Yazidis ask Turkey
for salvation
Aug 23rd 2014 | YOLVEREN, TURKEY |
A CENTURY ago, the Yazidis of Sinjar saved hundreds of Armenians and
Assyrian Christians as they were being slaughtered by the forces of
the Ottoman Turks and their Kurdish proxies in what a growing body
of scholars considers the 20th century's first genocide. "They built
a colony for these people, with houses, a church and a clinic," says
David Gaunt, a British historian. In 1918 the Ottomans retaliated by
sending a small army to Sinjar, destroying the buildings and capturing
a revered Yazidi leader, Hamo Sharro, who was sentenced to five years
of hard labour.
Now, in an ironic twist, thousands of Yazidis are seeking refuge in
Turkey as they flee the savagery of the jihadists who overran Sinjar on
August 3rd. Some 2,500 members of this ancient sect, whom Muslims label
"devil worshippers" because of their adulation of an angel in the guise
of a peacock, are said to have crossed into Turkey. Most are in a camp
erected by Turkish authorities in Silopi, a border town in the mainly
Kurdish south-east. But a growing number are heading to villages
dotting the barren plains around Batman, a province that hosted a
vibrant mix of Christians and Yazidis before the bloodshed of 1915.
One of these is Yolveren, where some 31 Yazidi refugees are crammed
into a house with four rooms. Little Yazidi boys, wearing a single
golden earring to protect them from the evil eye, cling to their
mothers, their eyes filled with fear. "Three of my cousins, all of
them girls, were kidnapped," says Harbiye Khalil, who escaped with
her three children. Hundreds of others were less lucky. "Our women
are being paraded on the streets, sold to Arab men and raped by Daish
[the Kurdish and Arabic term for Islamic State]," says a teacher of
English. "We are helpless."
Many blame Iraq's Kurds for failing to protect them. "We begged them
to give us weapons so we could defend ourselves. They refused and
abandoned us without firing a bullet," says a Yazidi economist. Others
point fingers at their Arab neighbours. "Muhammad al-Aser, the sheikh
of [a neighbouring Arab] Hasawij village, led Daish to our homes to
kill us," rasps an elderly carpenter. "We feel utterly betrayed. But
the YPG, God bless them, they have a permanent place in our heads," he
adds, patting his white turban. He is referring to the People's Defence
Units, a Syrian Kurdish militia allied to the Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK) in south-eastern Turkey. The YPG has been battling IS in
northern Syria for two years and has led tens of thousands of Yazidis
stranded on Mount Sinjar to safety in the past few weeks.
Batman's Kurdish mayor, Gulistan Akil, promises to build homes for
the Yazidis. "We must make amends for the past."
http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21613350-their-desperate-search-sanctuary-iraqs-yazidis-ask-turkey
The Economist
Aug 21 2014
In their desperate search for sanctuary, Iraq's Yazidis ask Turkey
for salvation
Aug 23rd 2014 | YOLVEREN, TURKEY |
A CENTURY ago, the Yazidis of Sinjar saved hundreds of Armenians and
Assyrian Christians as they were being slaughtered by the forces of
the Ottoman Turks and their Kurdish proxies in what a growing body
of scholars considers the 20th century's first genocide. "They built
a colony for these people, with houses, a church and a clinic," says
David Gaunt, a British historian. In 1918 the Ottomans retaliated by
sending a small army to Sinjar, destroying the buildings and capturing
a revered Yazidi leader, Hamo Sharro, who was sentenced to five years
of hard labour.
Now, in an ironic twist, thousands of Yazidis are seeking refuge in
Turkey as they flee the savagery of the jihadists who overran Sinjar on
August 3rd. Some 2,500 members of this ancient sect, whom Muslims label
"devil worshippers" because of their adulation of an angel in the guise
of a peacock, are said to have crossed into Turkey. Most are in a camp
erected by Turkish authorities in Silopi, a border town in the mainly
Kurdish south-east. But a growing number are heading to villages
dotting the barren plains around Batman, a province that hosted a
vibrant mix of Christians and Yazidis before the bloodshed of 1915.
One of these is Yolveren, where some 31 Yazidi refugees are crammed
into a house with four rooms. Little Yazidi boys, wearing a single
golden earring to protect them from the evil eye, cling to their
mothers, their eyes filled with fear. "Three of my cousins, all of
them girls, were kidnapped," says Harbiye Khalil, who escaped with
her three children. Hundreds of others were less lucky. "Our women
are being paraded on the streets, sold to Arab men and raped by Daish
[the Kurdish and Arabic term for Islamic State]," says a teacher of
English. "We are helpless."
Many blame Iraq's Kurds for failing to protect them. "We begged them
to give us weapons so we could defend ourselves. They refused and
abandoned us without firing a bullet," says a Yazidi economist. Others
point fingers at their Arab neighbours. "Muhammad al-Aser, the sheikh
of [a neighbouring Arab] Hasawij village, led Daish to our homes to
kill us," rasps an elderly carpenter. "We feel utterly betrayed. But
the YPG, God bless them, they have a permanent place in our heads," he
adds, patting his white turban. He is referring to the People's Defence
Units, a Syrian Kurdish militia allied to the Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK) in south-eastern Turkey. The YPG has been battling IS in
northern Syria for two years and has led tens of thousands of Yazidis
stranded on Mount Sinjar to safety in the past few weeks.
Batman's Kurdish mayor, Gulistan Akil, promises to build homes for
the Yazidis. "We must make amends for the past."
http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21613350-their-desperate-search-sanctuary-iraqs-yazidis-ask-turkey