LEADER OF WORLD’S YEZIDS ASKS U.S. PRESIDENT TO ENSURE SECURITY OF YEZIDS IN NORTH IRAQ

Noyan Tapan
Jun 19 2007

YEREVAN, JUNE 19, NOYAN TAPAN. The chairman of the National Union of
the World’s Yezids, Aziz Tamoyan, sent a letter to US President Bush
with the request to ensure security of Yezids living in the north of
Iraq. During the June 19 press conference he said that with the aim
of suppressing the "national liberation movement" of the Kurds, the
Turkish army has entered the northern part of Iraq where 1.2 million
Yezids live. According to Aziz Tamoyan, these Yezids are persecuted
by local Muslims.

"Our cradle is the north of Iraq where Yezids have lived for over five
thousand years," A. Tamoyan said. However, in his words, conditions
for Yezids has significantly worsened there in the past two months:
two months ago Muslims shot 24 people during thew course of one day
only because they were Yezids. This terrorism with respect to Yezids
is continuing.

The letter to President Bush, in particular, reads: "Iraq may be
partitioned, with Sunni, Shiah, and Kurdish states being created." In
the opinion of A. Tamoyan, the state of Yezdistan should be created
along with these three states. "We request that this territory
be considered an administrative part of the US. We want the US as
superpower to solve our problems. Today the fate of the Yezid people
depends on the US only because its troops are already in Iraq,"
A. Tamoyan stated, adding that US troops must prevent Turks from
harming the Yezids who live in North Iraq.