Kurdistan
Yazidis celebrating their New Year on the eve of the feast in Sheikhan district of Kurdistan Region's Duhok province on April 14, 2026. Photo: Bilind T. Abdullah/Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region’s leader issued congratulatory messages on the occasion of Yazidi New Year on Wednesday, adding that they will remain supportive of the community. The ethnoreligious group has suspended public ceremonies for the occasion, citing regional instability.
“I emphasize that we stand with them in their pain and suffering and support the demands of the Yazidi sisters and brothers,” President Masoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), said Tuesday.
The Yazidi New Year, celebrated in the middle of April, is an ancient festival deeply tied to nature's cycles, symbolizing the renewal of life, the emergence of spring, and cosmic rebirth.
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani also reiterated support. “We once again reassure our Yazidi brothers and sisters that, as always, the Kurdistan Region will remain a land of coexistence, tolerance, and mutual acceptance for all components,” he said in a statement Wednesday, noting that they will remain “supporters and defenders of their legitimate rights and demands.”
The Yazidi Supreme Spiritual Council decided Monday not to hold any events or gatherings related to the New Year, citing instability in the region. The US-Israel against Iran, which began on February 28, has been paused since last Wednesday following a two-week ceasefire brokered by Pakistan. However, Iran resumed its attacks on the Kurdistan Region on Tuesday, taking positions of the Iranian Kurdish armed groups.
Kurdistan Region has been one of the main targets for Iran and its regional proxies during their nearly 40-day long war with US and Israel.
According to Rudaw’s tracking, the Region was hit with more than 700 missiles and drones during the war. Over a dozen people were killed and more than 90 were injured.
Prime Minister Barzani also reaffirmed support in his congratulatory message.
“We reaffirm the [Kurdistan Regional Government] KRG’s support for the rights and demands of our Ezidi sisters and brothers,” he said in a statement, hoping the community can celebrate the occasion with “peace and tranquility.”
Around 5,000 Yazidis were massacred by the Islamic State (ISIS) in August 2014, with more than 6,000 of them taken into the terrorist group’s captivity and trafficking networks in the region. Still, there are more than 2,500 Yazidis who are under ISIS’s captivity or remain missing, according to the Office of the Kidnapped Yazidis in Erbil. Over 18 governments and international bodies have formally recognized the atrocities committed by ISIS as a genocide.
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