Draft:Yazidi genocide (1915)
{{Short description|Mass killing of Yazidis by Kurdish and Ottoman forces during World War I}}
{{Infobox civilian attack
| title = Yazidi genocide (1915)
| partof = the late Ottoman genocides
| location = Ottoman Empire
| target = Yazidis
| type = Deportation, genocide, ethnic cleansing, forced conversion
| fatalities = 300,000-500,000
| perpetrators = Ottoman Empire, Kurdish tribes, Hamidiye regiments
| motive = Anti-Yazidi sentiment, Islamization,Turkification
}}
The Yazidi genocide (1915-1917) refers to the mass killing, forced displacement, and forced conversion of Yazidis by Ottoman and allied Kurdish forces during World War I.{{Cite book |last=Scham |first=Sandra |url=https://books.google.se/books?id=o9orEQAAQBAJ&pg=PT108&dq=yazidis+1915&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&ovdme=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiA1ajbj4qNAxXtIRAIHd07FE0Q6wF6BAgGEAU#v=onepage&q=yazidis%201915&f=false |title=An Archaeology of Persecuted Peoples: Religion and Hate in the Mountains of Asia |date=2024-11-29 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-040-19409-6 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Bennett |first=Georgette F. |url=https://books.google.se/books?id=cDeKEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT66&dq=yazidis+1915&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&ovdme=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiA1ajbj4qNAxXtIRAIHd07FE0Q6wF6BAgFEAU#v=onepage&q=yazidis%201915&f=false |title=Religicide: Confronting the Roots of Anti-Religious Violence |last2=White |first2=Jerry |date=2022-11-22 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-63758-102-5 |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=26 March 2010 |title=A Conditional Coexistence:Yezidi in Armenia |url=https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/conditional-coexistenceyezidi-armenia |access-date=2022-02-04 |website=www.culturalsurvival.org |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=How did Yezidis become Muslim? |url=https://www.rudaw.net/english/culture/07102016-amp |access-date=2022-02-04 |website=www.rudaw.net}}{{Cite web |date=15 April 2021 |title=Armenia is the only country in the world where Yazidis are taught at school in their own language: The National News |url=https://www.1lurer.am/en/2021/04/15/Armenia-is-the-only-country-in-the-world-where-Yazidis-are-taught-at-school-in-their-own-language-T/455676 |access-date=2022-02-04 |website=www.1lurer.am |language=en}}{{Cite book |last1=Bozarslan |first1=Hamit |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IXgnEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT509 |title=The Cambridge History of the Kurds |last2=Gunes |first2=Cengiz |last3=Yadirgi |first3=Veli |date=2021-04-22 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-58301-5 |pages=509 |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Founder |first=Lynn Zovighian |last2=Member |first2=Zovighian Public Office Newsweek Is A. Trust Project |date=2025-05-01 |title=The World Must Embrace Pope Francis' Moral Clarity {{!}} Opinion |url=https://www.newsweek.com/over-century-after-1915-genocides-world-must-embrace-pope-francis-moral-clarity-opinion-2065269 |access-date=2025-05-04 |website=Newsweek |language=en}} This genocide is part of the broader pattern of genocidal violence against various minorities during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.{{Cite web |title=The Virtually Unknown Genocide of Yezidis by the Turks along with the Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks {{!}} Institute on the Holocaust & Genocide in Jerusalem |url=https://www.ihgjlm.com/the-virtually-unknown-genocide-of-yezidis-by-the-turks-along-with-the-armenians-assyrians-and-greeks/ |access-date=2025-05-04 |language=en-US}}{{Cite book |last=Astourian |first=Stephan |url=https://books.google.se/books?id=FJ3UDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA409&dq=yazidis+1915&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&ovdme=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiA1ajbj4qNAxXtIRAIHd07FE0Q6wF6BAgIEAU#v=onepage&q=yazidis%201915&f=false |title=Collective and State Violence in Turkey: The Construction of a National Identity from Empire to Nation-State |last2=Kévorkian |first2=Raymond |date=2020-11-01 |publisher=Berghahn Books |isbn=978-1-78920-451-3 |pages=409 |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Yezidis (Yazidis) History |url=https://www.yezidisinternational.org/abouttheyezidipeople/history/ |access-date=2025-05-05 |website=Yezidis |language=en-US}}{{Cite book |last=Charny |first=Israel W. |url=https://books.google.iq/books?id=_AwjEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT106&dq=Armenian+genocide+yazidi&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjHhZ6zwYyNAxXW_7sIHTbRPOIQ6AF6BAgEEAM#v=onepage&q=Armenian%20genocide%20yazidi&f=false |title=Israel's Failed Response to the Armenian Genocide: Denial, State Deception, Truth versus Politicization of History |date=2021-04-27 |publisher=Academic Studies PRess |isbn=978-1-64469-525-8 |language=en}}
Background
The Yazidis are an ethnoreligious group that had been marginalized under Ottoman rule due to their distinct religious practices and beliefs. During the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, the Ottomans with their allied Kurdish tribes targeted Yazidis, alongside Armenians and Assyrians, in a series of violent campaigns.Akçam, Taner. *The Genocides of the Ottoman Empire*. Berghahn Books, 2011.{{Citation |last=Robins |first=Christine |title=The Ezidis of Turkey |work=The Oxford Handbook of Religion in Turkey |pages=0 |editor-last=Tee |editor-first=Caroline |url=https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/55832/chapter-abstract/474742651?redirectedFrom=fulltext |access-date=2025-05-04 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-762488-3 |editor2-last=Vicini |editor2-first=Fabio |editor3-last=Dorroll |editor3-first=Philip}} These campaigns were driven by a desire to Islamize the non-Muslim populations of the Ottoman Empire, and to eliminate perceived threats to the new national identity forming in the region.Frishkopf, Michael L. *Yazidis: A Historical Background*. Indiana University Press, 2014.
Massacres
Between 1915 and 1917, Ottoman forces with the help of Kurdish tribesmen, carried out massacres against Yazidi communities in the regions of Mosul, Diyarbakir, and Bitlis. Entire Yazidi villages were destroyed, and men were killed while women and children were enslaved or forced to convert to Islam.Dinnayi, Mirza. The Yazidi Genocide: A Comprehensive History. YazidiGenocide.com, 2018. The campaigns resulted in the deaths of Thousands of Yazidis,Jongerden, Joost; Verheij, Jelle (eds.). Social Relations in Ottoman Diyarbekir, 1870–1915. Leiden: Brill, 2012. ISBN 9789004231511.
Scholarly perspectives
Most academics classify the Yazidi massacres as part of the Ottoman Empire's systematic campaign against non-Muslim minorities during World War I.{{cite book |last=Üngör |first=Uğur Ümit |title=The Making of Modern Turkey |year=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199603602 |page=123}}{{cite book |last=Akçam |first=Taner |title=The Young Turks' Crime Against Humanity |year=2012 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=9780691153339 |page=45}} Research shows Kurdish participation varied regionally, with some tribes attacking Yazidis while others offered protection.{{cite book |last=McDowall |first=David |title=A Modern History of the Kurds |year=2004 |publisher=I.B. Tauris |isbn=9781850434160 |page=78}} These events remain less studied than the Armenian and Assyrian genocides.{{cite book |last=Dinnayi |first=Mirza |title=The Yazidi Genocide |year=2018 |publisher=Yazda |page=12}}
Legacy
While the 1915 Yazidi genocide is often overshadowed by other genocides of the time, it remains a traumatic part of Yazidi history. Survivors of the genocide sought refuge in neighboring areas such as Armenia and Iraq, where they rebuilt their communities. The memory of the 1915 atrocities has resurfaced in recent years, especially following the Yazidi genocide carried out by ISIS in 2014, drawing similarities between the two events.