Yazidis fleeing Islamic State settled in homes in southeastern Turkey

Yazidis fleeing Iraq following an offensive by Islamic State (IS) militants have been settled in homes in the southeastern province of Şırnak, Culture Minister Ömer Çelik has said on Aug. 7.

Tens of thousands of Yazidi families, as well as Turkmens living in Iraq’s Sinjar district bordering Syria are desperately trying to escape the militants amid reports of massacres.

Feyyan Dahil, a Yazidi-origin lawmaker told the Iraqi Parliament on Aug. 6 that at least 500 people have been killed and 500 women were abducted as concubines.

Turkey is also gearing up humanitarian aid to Turkmens, setting up a new refugee camp for 20,000 Iraqi Turkmens near the northern Iraqi city of Duhok, Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay had also announced on Aug. 6.

Atalay had said initials plans were to set a refugee camp in Sinjar – inhabited by the Yazidi minority – but it was changed due to security reasons.

The Union of Chamber and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) Aug. 6 sent 25 humanitarian aid trucks for both people in the Gaza Strip and Iraqi Turkmens in neighboring Iraq, in coordination with Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Relief Agency (AFAD).

Yazidis, whose believe in an ancient religion linked with Zoroastrianism, have suffered years of oppression and are considered as “heretics” by radical Islamists.