Occasional Paper Series - Syrian Yezidis under Four Regimes: - Assad, Erdogan, ISIS and the YPG

Sinjar is a disputed territory, claimed Many were hopeful that the defeat of by both the central government in Baghdad and seat the ISIS Caliphate would ensure their of the autonomous Kurdish region in Erbil, which continued survival, but the practice of has complicated and slowed the reconstruction of the area. [...] And yet, ISIS was never able to launch the kind of massive assault on Yezidis “In respect of its abuse of Yazidi boys between across the border because their communities were, the ages of seven and 15, ISIS has committed for the most part, protected by the YPG and the Syrian the war crime of using, conscripting, and Democratic Forces. [...] Its doomed attack on the Kurdish across their so-called Caliphate on both sides of the town of Kobane marked the beginning of the end for Syrian-Iraqi border and ISIS emirs enforced the same the Caliphate. [...] Perhaps the most fundamental change enacted by When the forces of the Assad regime withdrew from the Autonomous Administration was the recognition northern Syria in the summer of 2012, the Kurdish-led of the Yezidi religion under Article 33 of the Social YPG stepped in to fill the vacuum. [...] The Battle for the Mountain of the Kurds: Self-Determination and Ethnic Cleansing in the Afrin Region of Rojava.