World’s largest Yazidi temple under construction in Armenia - Guardian

By Harriet Sherwood


A huge Yazidi temple is under construction in a small Armenian village, intended as a symbol of resilience for a persecuted religious tradition.

The temple is being built in Aknalich, about 35km from Yerevan, the Armenian capital. Seven domes will surround a central arched roof, crowned with a gold-plated sun. At 25m high, it will be built from Armenian granite and Iranian marble and house a 200-square-metre prayer hall.

The complex will also include a conference hall, seminary and museum.

Named Quba Mere Diwane, this will be the largest Yazidi temple in the world, although there are relatively few contenders. The project is being funded by Mirza Sloian, a Yazidi businessman based in Moscow, according to EurasiaNet, and is scheduled to be completed next year.

“This temple is important for us because our community is facing extinction. Our community is displaced around the world, and we need temples in each place for our children to keep their culture and identity,” said Ahmed Burjus of the UK branch of Yazda, a global Yazidi organisation.

The complex in Aknalich is not intended to overshadow Lalish, the most holy Yazidi temple, about 36 miles north of Mosul in northern Iraq. Followers of the Yazidi faith are expected to make a pilgrimage to Lalesh once in their lifetime.

“There will only ever be one Lalish,” Khdr Hajoian, vice-president of the Yazidi National Union, told EurasiaNet.

Yazidis are the largest minority group in Armenia, with a population of about 35,000, although many have left or are leaving to find work elsewhere, particularly in Russia.

They originated in eastern Turkey and northern Iraq, but many were killed or driven out of Turkey during the bloody rule of the Ottoman Empire. Yazidis describe themselves as “a people of 72 genocides”.

The most recent onslaught was in northern Iraq – until recently, home to 90% of Yazidis – in 2014. Islamic State killed thousands of Yazidis in and around Sinjar, abducted young girls and women to be used as sex slaves, forced people to convert to Islam, and drove an estimated 50,000 into the mountains where they were besieged.

In June, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria said Islamic State was committing genocide against the Yazidis of northern Iraq.

Thousands of Yazidis now live in squalid refugee camps in northern Iraq and Turkey, or have scattered across Europe.

“People are suffering from psychological and medical problems in the camps, with no work and no future,” said Burjus. “Even in Europe, no country has recognised Yazidis as a distinctive group. Our fate is not in our hands.”

Germany is home to western Europe’s largest diaspora community. According to Burjus, there are fewer than 700 Yazidis in the UK. European governments classify Yazidis as Kurds, he said.

The Yazidi faith is derived from Zoroastrianism, Christianity and Islam. They have been denounced as infidels by Islamic extremists, and unfairly accused of being devil-worshippers.

They do not accept converts, and Yazidis are not permitted to marry non-Yazidis or even Yazidis from a different caste.

As well as being persecuted for their religious beliefs, Yazidi communities are dispersing because of economic pressures.

“Yazidis are not well placed to handle the challenges they face,” said Christine Allison, professor of Kurdish studies at Exeter university. “They are fragmented, vulnerable and face big socio-economic difficulties.

“There is a risk of Yazidis not surviving – or at least being a much smaller community within a generation.”