US embassy cable - 03ANKARA4003

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 004003 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/28/2012 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, TU 
SUBJECT: TURKEY: KURDISH YEZIDIS SPEAK UP 
 
 
(U) Classified by Acting Political Counselor Nicholas S. 
Kass.  Reason:1.5(b)(d). 
 
 
1. (U) Among Turkey's estimated 12-15 million Kurds exists a 
minority within a minority -- the Yezidis.  According to 
Veysi Bulut, a leader of the Yezidi community in Turkey: 
 
 
-- Yezidism (note: a non-Islamic religion derived from 
Zoroastrianism.  End note) was once the dominant form of 
worship among the Kurds.  Yezidis vigorously dispute the 
slander, widespread among certain Islamic elements, that they 
are "devil worshippers."  As monotheists, the Yezidis "were 
the first to believe in one God;" 
 
 
-- All Yezidis speak the Kurmanji dialect of Kurdish that 
predominates among Kurds in Turkey.  Indeed, "all Yezidis are 
Kurds, and all Kurds originally were Yezidis."  Many were (he 
charged) forcibly converted to Islam or killed in religious 
intercommunal fighting with Muslims down through the 
centuries.  There is still considerable animosity between 
Muslims and Yezidis in Turkey; 
 
 
-- On the other hand, Yezidis "get along well" with Turkey's 
heterodox (Shia) Alevi community -- especially with Kurdish 
Alevis, with whom the Yezidi share rituals including praying 
at sunrise and sunset.  Yezidis "also see Christians as 
brothers;" 
 
 
-- Politically, Yezidis support the secular State, and oppose 
Islamic extremism; 
 
 
-- There are 200 Yezidi villages in Kurdish southeastern 
Turkey, with a population of about five thousand.  There are 
over 800 thousand Yezidis across the border in Iraq, home to 
the most important Yezidi religious sites. (Note: these 
population figures were confirmed to us by Suavi Aydin, 
Professor of Archaeology at Hacettepe University and an 
expert on minorities in Turkey.  End note.)  Some 100 
thousand Yezidis live in Iran, 800 thousand in Georgia, and 
30 thousand in Syria; 
 
 
-- During the Turkish State's recent struggle with the PKK 
(a.k.a. KADEK), many Yezidis fled to Germany, Sweden, Canada, 
and even the U.S.  However, some expat Yezidis want to take 
advantage of the improved situation in southeastern Turkey to 
return to their homes. 
 
 
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Comment: Kurdish Microethnicity 
------------------------------- 
 
 
2. (C) For historical reasons, Yezidis have long sought to 
deflect attention from themselves.  But, like other elements 
of what is generally regarded as the wider Kurdish minority 
in Turkey -- including not only Kurdish Alevis but the more 
obscure ethnic Zaza subgroup -- we expect Yezidis to become 
more visible as the EU political reform program takes root. 
PEARSON