The Persecution of Yazidis by Kurds describes mainly the massacres of the Yazidis committed by some Muslim Kurdish tribes. Sometimes, during these massacres, the Muslim Kurds tried to force the Yazidis to convert to Islam. Almost the whole Yazidi population were nearly wiped out by massacres carried out by the Turks and Kurds in the 19th century. While modern persecution describes a takeover of Yazidi settlement areas with simultaneous assimilation of the Yazidis by the Kurdistan Region. in Iraqi Kurdistan is named after the Yazidi leader Ali Beg who was killed there in 1832 by the Kurdish prince Mohammed Pasha Rawanduz.
History
Historically, there were many massacres of Yazidis committed by Kurds. In the 10th century the Kurds started persecuting the Yazidis in the Hakkari mountains. The Kurds persecuted the Yazidis with particular brutality. In the year 1832, about 70,000 Yazidis were killed by the Kurdish leaders Bedir Khan Beg and Mohammed Pasha Rawanduz. During his research trips in 1843, the Russian traveller and orientalist Ilya Berezin mentioned that 7,000 Yazidis were killed by Kurds on the hills of Nineveh near Mosul, shortly before his arrival. In 1414, the Kurds killed the Yazidis in the mountains of Hakkari. Then the Kurds destroyed the holy temple Lalish of the Yazidis and desecrated the tomb of Sheikh Adi. Later, the Yazidis rebuilt their temple and the tomb of Sheikh Adi. In 1831, the Kurdish emir Mohammed Pasha Rawanduz moved with his army to the village of Kellek and had putting the inhabitants of this Yazidi village to the sword. Then he went northward and attacked the entire Yazidi-inhabited foothill country east of Mosul. Thousands of Yazidi men, women and children were killed by his army. Some Yazidis managed to take refuge in the neighboring forests and mountain fastnesses, and a few managed to escape to distant places. In 1832, the Kurdish emir Mohammed Pasha Rawanduz with his troops committed a massacre on the Yazidis in Khatarah. Subsequently, the Kurds attacked the Yazidis in Shekhan and killed many of them. In another attempt he and his troops occupied over 300 Yazidi villages. The Kurds kidnapped over 10,000 Yazidis to Rawandiz. Then they gave them the option to convert to Islam or to be killed. Most of them converted to Islam and the rest who refused were killed. In 1832, the Kurdish emir Bedir Khan Beg with his troops committed a massacre on the Yazidis in Shekhan. The Kurds have killed almost the whole Yazidi population of Shekhan. Some Yazidis tried to escape to Sinjar. By the attempt to escape to Sinjar, many Yazidis have going into the Tigris river. Those Yazidis who could not swim were killed by the Kurds. About 12,000 Yazidis were killed on the bank of the Tigris river by the Kurds. Kurds also kidnapped many Yazidi women and children. In 1833, the Yazidis were attacked in the Aqrah region again by the Kurdish emir Mohammed Pasha Rawanduz and his soldiers. The Kurds killed 500 Yazidis in the upper Zab. After that, the Kurds attacked the Yazidis in Sinjar and killed many of them. In 1844, the Kurdish emir Bedir Khan Beg committed a repeated massacre on the Yazidis in the Tur Abdin region. Many Yazidis were killed by the Kurds. The Kurds have also captured many Yazidis to force them to convert to Islam. Seven Yazidi villages have been forced to Islam and have converted. In 1915–1923, Yazidis were killed alongside Armenians during the Armenian genocide at the hands of the Kurds. More than 300,000 Yazidis were killed. Many Yazidis have also fled to Transcaucasia.
Modern times
Since 2003, when the Kurds occupied the settlements of the Yazidis in the disputed territories of Northern Iraq, the Yazidis were undergoing a process of Kurdification by the Kurdistan Regional Government. According to a report by Human Rights Watch, the Kurdish authorities have used heavy-handed tactics against the Yazidis and some Yazidis were kidnapped and beaten by the KRG. There have also been some demographic changes in Yazidi-majority areas after the fall of Saddam. In the Sheikhan area, which is considered a historic Yazidi stronghold, the Kurdish authorities have settled Sunni Kurds to strengthen their claim that it should be a Kurdish area.
Resistance of the Yazidis
Some years ago, the Yazidis were a very powerful tribe. The most powerful tribe of the Yazidis inhabits the mountain of Sinjar. Many Yazidis also defended themselves against the Kurdish attacks. So did Ali Beg, the Yazidi leader in Sheikhan. Yazidi leader Ali Beg used his forces to oppose Kurdish leader Mohammed Pasha Rawanduz, who mobilized the Kurdish tribes of the surrounding mountains to attack the Yazidis. Ali Beg's troops were outnumbered and Ali Beg was captured and killed by the Bey of Rawandiz.
Kurdish view
The relations between the Yazidis and the Kurds were often tense. Most Kurds view the Yazidis as so-called "unbelievers". In the past, this view of the Kurds often led to massacres and forced conversions on the Yazidis. Kurdish muftis have given the persecution of Yazidis by Kurds a religious character and legalized it. Also Kurdish mullahs such as Mahmud Bayazidi viewed the Yazidis as unbelievers.
