THE EZIDIS: CHILDREN OF THE SUN LIVING IN ANATOLIA

Hurriyet
March 26 3009
Turkey

ISTANBUL – In Turkey there are only 400 members remaining of the
Ezidis, one of the oldest communities in Anatolia. The largest Ezidi
populations in the world are in Armenia and Germany, according to a
research by a master student

Misunderstood for centuries, one of the oldest minority communities
in Anatolia has lived in silence in Turkey, keeping their traditions
alive through oral history and a religious caste system.

For centuries, many have claimed the Ezidis were Satanists, but Ezidis
are a religious community with hundreds of years of oral history. They
are monotheistic, have no place of worship and their holy scripture
has been lost.

They have derogatorily been called "Yezidis," in reference to the
belief that they descended from the Emevi emperor Yezid bin Muaviye,
who killed the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson.

The name Yezidi was used to insult the group, forcing the Ezidis to
hide their identity. They took shelter in Anatolia and have continued
to exist in hiding for centuries. Unlike the assumption, they have
never been Satanists. They stand facing the sun and have prayed to
God for centuries.

Holy books

The "Kitab el Cilve" (Apocalyptic Book) and "Mishef-i ReÅ~_" (Black
Book), the holy books of the Ezidis, were burned during attacks from
Turkmenistan’s Bedrettin Lulu in Lales, their holy place in Iraq,
in the 13th and 14th centuries. These holy books have been orally
transferred from one generation to another for centuries.

Five years ago, Istanbul Bilgi University Department of History
master’s student Amed Gökcen began research into the community,
hoping to remove the prejudices against the Ezidis and reveal their
centuries-old culture. As a result of research in the southeastern
Anatolian cities of Mardin, Batman, Diyarbakır and Å~^anlıurfa,
Gökcen learned that the Ezidis population was only 400 in Turkey. He
said the most important factor that enabled this community to survive
against all odds is a caste system, similar to the one in India,
which creates religious cooperation.

He pursued the migration routes of the Ezidis and extended his research
from Syria to Iraq and from Armenia to Germany. He discovered that
the largest Ezidi population was in Armenia and Germany. He wrote
about their traditions, religious beliefs and legends, and collected
26 hymns and 21 folk songs.

Gökcen’s research was put up for sale last week by Kalan Music in a
detailed book in the Ezidis’s Kirman language (a branch of Kurdish),
English and Turkish, and on two CDs. "The Ezidis are a community that
assimilate themselves," said Gökcen. "They hesitate to reveal their
identity. They generally try to integrate into the societies where
they live and try to get lost among them."

Difference between the German and Armenian Ezidis

Gökcen said he faced many difficulties during his research and that
it was not possible to gather information about the community without
the reference of a community member.

Speaking about his impressions during his research in Armenia
and Germany, Gökcen said: "The Ezidis are being assimilated in
Armenia. The Ezidis define themselves as a branch of Kurds everywhere
else in the world but in Armenia they call themselves only Ezidikis."

Gökcen said the Ezidis of Germany live in very comfortable
conditions. "In order to take advantage of special rights the German
government grants to the minorities, those who are not Ezidis and
who even called them Yezidis have introduced themselves as Ezidis,"
he said. There are 50,000 Ezidis living in Armenia and 300,000 in
Germany, according to Gökcen.

The Collected Ezidi Mythology

The Ezidis date their bloodline back to Seyid Bin Cer, the first son
of Adam and Eve. According to a legend, after God created Adam and
Eve, he put their souls in jars to see which one was fertile. When he
opened the jars 40 days later, Seyid Bin Cer was in Adam’s jar and all
of nature’s insects and birds were in Eve’s. Since Seyid Bin Cer could
keep the bloodline of humanity alive, God sent him a beautiful virgin,
or Houri, from heaven. There is the concept of "clean blood" in the
Ezidis because they consider themselves from the bloodline of Seyid Bin
Cer and a houri from heaven. Therefore, Ezidis only marry other Ezidis.