From Sinjar Mounts to Abandoned Villages

We are currently in Bacıne, a village located adjacent to Midyat district evicted by Turkish Army and renamed as Güven [trust in Turkish] for security reasons. 

There is neither a sign nor a tree in the village. Covered with forsaken houses in ruins, the 4,000 year old habitation is almost waiting for its disappearance. 

Ordinated with icons of sun and peacocks, the graves upon the hill bolster the feeling of abandonment. On the other hand, they say “we are here” with their dead people. You would never believe that there is life here unless you hear the children playing far away. And there was literally no life, until Ezidi people arrived to the village after running away from ISIS. 

The only human sounds come from Bacıne Guest House at the village entrance. The village now attracts 200 Ezidis who run away from ISIS. 

During the most heated periods of Turkish - Kurdish conflict in the 1990s, the Turkish state didn’t permit any groups to stay in the village - needlessly to mention “atheist” Ezidi people. The village of 270 households has evicted after refusing the village guard system. Not even a soul lived their for years. While nobody knows whether its inhabitants will ever return one day, it became Ezidi people’s home now. 

While most of them left behind their lands and animals, they have lost family members as well. For some, even converting to Islam didn’t help to save their family members from ISIS. 

Ezidi people don’t have a culture based on writing. Therefore they don’t only fear of dispersing as it may lead to their destruction - at least on the cultural sense. However, everyday worries comes on the top of all other issues. Like all other Ezidis, their faces also turn toward the Europe. Running away from Sinjar doesn’t necessarily make them feel safer. And they don’t think they can stay in Turkey for longer. “They have been exiled from these lands hundred years ago, how can they stay now?”. 

Ran away to Bacıne from Sinjar, maybe one day Ezidi people will eventually return to their own lands. As it happened thousands of years...(NV/BM)

* Click here to read the article in Turkish.