Journalist Tülay Çetinkaya Saraçoğlu-Interview with a member of the Yazidi community in Anatolia

In the new article series we started at Haber.dk, we devoted our first article to introducing the Yazidis, whose numbers are decreasing and whose numbers are decreasing in Anatolia, about whom a decree has been issued 73 times in the Middle East, with the words of a Yazidi. In our new article series, I will try to explain the civilizations that lived in Mesopotamia, Göbeklitepe, and the Assyrians, the ancient people of Mesopotamia.

Tülay Çetinkaya Saraçoğlu
I will talk about the faith and culture of the Yazidis, a society we do not know very well and who have been marginalized for centuries because of their beliefs.
I will talk about the beliefs of the Yazidis from the Bozca village of Viranşehir district of Şanlıurfa, a city whose history dates back to ancient times. I must admit that I first heard about them on television news with the massacre they suffered in Iraq in 2014.

I wanted to introduce you to these beautiful people, whose existence I did not know until I visited Şanlıurfa in July 2022.
I prepared this article as an interview with Çetin Gören, a Yazidi from Urfa. The images belong to Gani Darılmaz. Thank you both.
This is my experience of a completely amateur history and culture trip, just like my trips to different parts of the world. Here I am sharing with you the information I have acquired about the religion, language and culture of this geography.
Who are the Yazidis, where do they live in Şanlıurfa?
– Until the 1990s, the Yazidi population in Turkey was 80,000, and only 6 villages remained out of 38 Yazidi villages in Şanlıurfa and Viranşehir. We are now from Bozca, one of these 6 villages.
What does the word Yazidi mean?
– Yazidi comes from Ezdaism. The word Ezdai is a Kurdish word. It means ‘those who follow the Creator’. We Yazidis believe in Huda/huda, that is, Allah. Our difference from other faiths is that we do not have an understanding of prophecy. We do not see anyone as an intermediary between Allah and His servant.
Is it possible to become a Yazidi?
– It is the difference that distinguishes Yazidis from other religions; you cannot become a Yazidi later on. One becomes a Yazidi only by being born to a Yazidi mother and father. For this reason, Yazidis do not marry from other religions.
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Do you have a holy book, a place of worship, if so, what is its name?
– Our holy book Meshaf-ı Reş means black book. We do not have a specific place of worship, we pray everywhere on earth, at home, in nature, everywhere, we turn our faces to God’s light, the sun, and we pray in our own language.
(It is rumored that Meshaf-ı Reş, one of the two books considered sacred by the Yazidis, was written in the 15th century. It is a longer and divided into sections source than the other books they consider sacred, Kitap el Celve. Meshaf-ı Reş, written in Kurdish, In the first half, information is given about the creation process of man and Melek-i Tavus.)
What is worship like in Yazidism?
– After being purified with water similar to ‘ablution’, people go to Laleş to perform prayers, fast, go on pilgrimage, and visit the pilgrimage, and children are baptized with ‘zimzim’ (zamzam) water.
If we need to collect the worship of the Yazidi faith under headings;
Prayer
After performing ablution, we turn our faces to the sun, which is the light of Allah, without which there is no life, and we thank Allah twice a day. When we start praying, we say, „O God, protect the 72 nations on earth, then protect us.”
Fast
We wake up at sahur and make the intention to fast, we do not eat or drink during the day, and we break the fast when the sun sets. In the second week of every December, we fast on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and celebrate Eid on Friday.
The reason why Yazidis fast is as follows:
– Once upon a time, the sun did not rise for days. Yazidis started fasting for this reason. At the end of the 3rd day, the sun rose and they celebrated that day as a holiday. If you pay attention, the days start to get longer in the 12th month. It also coincides with our holiday. That’s why Yazidis fast for 3 days and we celebrate the 4th day.
Cross
The grave of the first religious leader of the Yazidis is in Laleş, Iraq, and we make our pilgrimage by visiting this sacred place of the Yazidis.
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haram
Pork is forbidden in our religion, drinking alcohol is not haram or a sin, but anyone who drinks alcohol and disturbs and harms those around him commits a great sin. Adultery is not accepted in Yazidism. A person who commits adultery is considered to have abandoned religion.
Women are given great importance in Yazidism. In fact, one of our proverbs says: In our land, women wake up first and then the sun, because women give birth to the sun.
Holiday
New Year’s Eve is on January 13 for Yazidis. Wednesday, which we celebrate in April, coincides with the Easter holiday and Nevruz.
We accept Red Wednesday (Çarşema sor) as the day when the world fermented and took its current form. That’s why we paint the eggs in different colors that day, just like on Easter. Those painted eggs symbolize the birth of the world and the universe. A chick hatching from an egg is like a sheep lambing.
The month of April is considered the month of the bride and the bride is not brought to her. That’s why Yazidis don’t hold weddings in April.
What is the origin and place of Yazidism?
– Yazidism is a very old religion. The origin of Yazidism is uncertain. According to our belief, Wuda, God asked 7 angels, the angel Gabriel, to create the universe and humanity. Gabriel, also known as Melek Peacock in the Yazidis, is the one who created the universe and us humans.
According to Yazidi belief, God told the angels not to prostrate to anyone but Him. To test the angels, he told them to prostrate to Adam. The angels prostrated, only Melek Tavus did not prostrate.
He said to Allah, „You created us and I will not prostrate to anyone but you.” That’s why Allah puts Melek Tavus as the head of the angels and that’s why he is the holiest angel for Yazidis.
The black snake symbol is also sacred to us. Because in our belief, the snake curled up on the water entering through the hole opened in Noah’s ship, preventing the ship from sinking and ensuring the continuation of the human race.
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Do you believe in an afterlife after death?
- In our case, the soul does not die, the body dies, the soul is born in another body. Also, we do not have any belief in the apocalypse. Because the doomsday has already come for the person who dies.
Are there any religious leaders among the Yazidis? If so, what is its name and function?
– Yazidis also have a caste system. Disciples, sheikhs and pirs. Each caste intermarries within itself. So a disciple cannot marry a sheikh or pir.
What would you like to say about the massacres against Yazidis?
– There are 73 massacres in our history. The last one was done by ISIS in Iraq in 2014. Yazidis were massacred en masse. While our women were sold like animals in the markets, the world watched on television.
I would like to end with a quote from Mesut Alp, the valuable archaeologist raised in these regions: ‘Anatolia is not a mosaic, it is marbled’. This statement touched me very much. I feel very lucky to go to Şanlıurfa and have this experience.
The source from which the article was taken is: https://haber.dk/otekilestirilen-ve-yanlis-taninan-bir-halk-2/30119