Baghdad forum highlights Yazidi heritage and rebuilding challenges
Cultural experts discuss protecting Yazidi heritage and supporting returns as Sinjar continues to face security and reconstruction challenges
BAGHDAD, Iraq (MNTV) — An Iraqi cultural forum brought researchers together in Baghdad to discuss Yazidi history, heritage and the challenges facing the community’s return and recovery more than a decade after ISIS attacks.
The session was organized by the General Department of Cultural Relations at Iraq’s Ministry of Culture at the Abdul Sahib al-Mukhtar Cultural Center, coinciding with the annual commemoration of the Yazidi genocide in August.
According to Shafaq news, political researcher Shireen al-Jaf said discussions focused on policies Iraq could adopt to safeguard Yazidi heritage and create conditions for displaced community members to return home.
Al-Jaf said Iraqi citizenship could accommodate multiple cultural and ethnic identities, arguing that Yazidi and Kurdish identities were not incompatible with belonging to the Iraqi state.
She also said political representation by itself could not resolve Yazidi concerns without government commitment to translate representation into concrete improvements, particularly in Sinjar and Nineveh.
Yazidi affairs researcher Khaldoun Salem Elias said the forum examined the community’s social, political and cultural heritage as well as the long-term effects of the genocide on Yazidi society.
Elias said cultural programs could help Iraqis better understand the country’s diverse communities, noting that some participants learned about Yazidi traditions and religious heritage, including the construction of Yazidi temples and the scale of ISIS crimes against the community.
Hassoun Abboud, a lecturer at the University of Iraq’s College of Arts, said the event sought to introduce participants to Yazidi customs and traditions while commemorating the genocide that began on Aug. 3, 2014.
Abboud said limited public knowledge about Yazidis remains widespread in Iraq, with some people incorrectly confusing the community with Mandaeans.
ISIS seized control of Sinjar in August 2014, killing and abducting an estimated 12,000 Yazidis in attacks that have been recognized internationally as genocide.
Kurdish Peshmerga forces retook the city in 2015, while Iraqi forces backed by the Popular Mobilization Forces took control of the area two years later.
By early August 2025, Iraq’s Mass Graves Directorate had exhumed 68 of the 162 known burial sites in Sinjar, identifying 293 victims, while more than 450 sets of remains remained unidentified.
Nearly 2,900 Yazidis were still listed as missing, underscoring the continuing humanitarian consequences of the 2014 attacks and the scale of the community’s recovery needs.
Participants called for continued cultural initiatives highlighting Iraq’s different communities, saying greater public awareness of Yazidi heritage could strengthen understanding of the country’s social and cultural diversity.
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