15:59,

YEREVAN, MAY 30, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Member of Parliament from the ruling My Step faction Rustam Bakoyan is sounding the alarm about pro-Turkish radical groups targeting the Yazidi community in Afrin, Syria.

“Syrian radical groups, sponsored by the Turkish government, have taken control over the Afrin region, including the Yazidi villages in this area. These groups are committing various atrocities against the Yazidis, they are forcing them to convert, to forcefully migrate – at the same time creating conditions for demographic changes in the region,” Bakoyan, who is of Yazidi ethnicity, said on social media.

The lawmaker said that these radical Islamic groups have recently destroyed Yazidi holy sites, set fire and ruined Yazidi villages and settlements, all of which constitute war crimes.

“These groups are forcing the Yazidis of the region to attend Islamic mosques. Some Yazidi holy sites in Afrin have been turned into mosques. Cruel atrocities are being committed against Yazidi women and children”, he said.

The MP also posted a photo of a Yazidi young woman who was killed by the Turkish-sponsored groups.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan