History of Yazidi Genocides, Mass Atrocities, Forced Conversions and Persecutions in the Middle East

Abstract

persecutions suffered by the Yazidis with the help of the following questions: How many Yazidi genocides have been documented? What were the reasons behind these genocides and persecutions? Whether or not all the mass atrocities suffered by the Yazidis should be termed genocide? This study is a part of my postdoctoral research, which is an effort to document the mass violence and genocides suffered by the Yazidis in the Mesopotamian region. Before the 2014 genocide, Yazidis were forgotten and left to the mercy of their Muslim neighbors. Their painful history was ignored, and it lacked proper documentation. Keeping in mind the forgotten history of the genocides suffered by the Yazidi community, peacefully living in Mount Sinjar and the Hakkari Mountains, this research focuses on documenting the instances of mass atrocities and genocides, the reasons behind such mass atrocities and the way forward. There is a common perception among the Yazidis and some scholars that the Yazidis suffered up to 74 genocides over their history; this research project offers a qualitative case study of the history of the genocides and mass atrocities suffered by the Yazidis. It is important to adopt a research methodology that provides enough data to reach sound conclusions. To collect data, literature review and interviews were employed and the theory of epistemic violence as well as hermeneutics was used to analyze this data. This analysis provides a deeper understanding and knowledge of Yazidi genocides, mass atrocities and persecutions as well as their causes. It is an extremely important research for the Yazidi community and genocide studies because no research has ever been conducted to document the total number of genocides, persecutions and mass murders suffered by the Yazidis.