Armenian Yezidis Protest Against Murder Of 23 Kinsfolk In Iraq

ARMENIAN YEZIDIS PROTEST AGAINST MURDER OF 23 KINSFOLK IN IRAQ

Armenpress
Apr 27 2007

YEREVAN, APRIL 27, ARMENPRESS: Armenia’s biggest national minority
group-Yezidis-gathered today outside the UN Armenia House in central
Yerevan to protest against the murder of 23 kinsfolk in Iraq on
April 22.

According to media reports, the non-Muslim Yezidis were among 50
people killed by insurgents last Sunday. They were dragged from a
bus and gunned down by the roadside.

The violence came as the US military said it would press on with plans
to wall in Baghdad’s most restive neighborhoods despite criticism
from residents and many Iraqi politicians.

The non-Muslims from Iraq’s Yezidi minority were ambushed near the
main northern city of Mosul. They were traveling back from a textile
plant in Mosul to their home in Bashika, east of the city.

Several gunmen stopped the buses, chose the Yezidi among the passengers
and killed them in front of everybody. Three wounded Yezidis survived.

Aziz Tamoyan, the Yerevan-based chairman of the World Yezidi Union,
said the security of one million of Yezidis in Iraq, which is their
historical home, is endangered.

He said the murder of Yezidis is part of a plan to drive his nation
our of their land and urged the international community to stop the
attacks on them ‘because the Yezidi community is not involved in the
political processes of Iraq.’