Yazidi women in northeastern Syria marked Çarşema Sor, their sacred New Year’s day, by calling for peace and the return of displaced communities to Turkish-occupied regions, including Afrin (Efrîn), Ras al-Ayn (Serêkaniyê), and Tel Abyad (Girê Spî).
Speaking from the town of Al-Qahtaniyah (Tirbespîyê) in the Jazira (Cizîrê) canton of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), women from the Yazidi House shared messages of hope, resistance and longing. “We hope this year will be the year Efrîn is liberated,” said Meryem Cendo, a member of the Yazidi House and a displaced resident of Afrin. “Despite all the massacres Yazidis have faced throughout history, we have succeeded in preserving our culture and identity.”
Çarşema Sor — also known as Red Wednesday — symbolises the creation of the universe and the descent of the angel Tawûsê Melek to Earth. It is celebrated annually on the first Wednesday after 13 April. In Yazidi tradition, it marks both the beginning of the new year and the arrival of spring.
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“This festival is a celebration of life and light. We dedicate it to our leader Abdullah Öcalan and to all Yazidi people,” Cendo added.
Nûcan Cindo, also from the Afrin Yazidi House, expressed her wish to celebrate the next Çarşema Sor in Afrin. “We will one day celebrate this festival in our homeland. Until then, we greet all peoples with this holy day,” she said.
In parallel, the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) issued a strong statement marking Red Wednesday, extending congratulations to “the Yazidi community, the Kurdish people, and all peoples of the region,” and expressing hope that the holiday “becomes a foundation for lasting peace within communities and peoples.”
However, the KNK also warned of ongoing threats against Yazidis: “In Sinjar [Şengal], Afrin, and Serê Kaniyê, attacks and threats against Yazidi believers continue. The situation in Sinjar has not yet been fully clarified. Attacks by the Turkish state on Sinjar continue. These attacks are a continuation of ISIS’s assault and of the 74th genocide (Ferman).”
The statement criticised the 2020 agreement signed between Turkey, Baghdad, and Erbil (Hewlêr) regarding Sinjar without local consultation. “Representatives of the people of Sinjar do not accept this agreement and have strongly opposed it. This is their right. Their will has been trampled.”
KNK called for urgent solidarity and protection: “Sinjar’s people must be respected. To protect the Yazidi community, all our forces and people must be vigilant and stand with them.”
Red Wednesday, observed in exile and under pressure, was again marked by calls for survival and return — and by reminders that for Yazidis, joy and resistance remain inseparable.
In a related statement, the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) extended its greetings to Yazidis and warned of “ongoing genocidal threats,” especially in Sinjar, where ISIS committed mass atrocities in 2014. The KCK accused the Turkish and Iraqi governments of obstructing Yazidi self-governance and urged Yazidis to strengthen democratic structures.
Yazidi House co-chair Leyla Ibrahim echoed this call for peace and safe return. “Our hopes are many. Above all, we want peace. We want the people of Efrîn, Serê Kaniyê and Girê Spî to go back to their lands.”
Though displaced and under pressure, the Yazidi people continue to observe their traditions with resilience — turning each Çarşema Sor into a quiet act of survival and defiance.
