Kurdistan Regional Government Marks Yezidi New Year

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Apr 14, 2010, 10:15 ET

WASHINGTON, April 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Representative of the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq (KRG) to the United States today released the following statement in commemoration of Red Wednesday, the Yezidi (Ezidi) New Year:

On behalf of the people of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, I congratulate Yezidis the world over on the Yezidi New Year, or Red Wednesday. In Yezidi tradition, today marks the day Melek Taws descended upon earth as a peacock to endow it with beauty and new life. Just like the multiform colors of the peacock's tail, the Kurdistan Region is vibrant and diverse, and the Yezidi Kurds have made an important contribution to the Region's collective culture. As a day of rebirth, I hope this Yezidi New Year brings with it greater openness and stability for all people throughout Iraq.

Yezidi Background

The Yezidi Kurds live principally in the Dohuk and predominantly Kurdish areas of Mosul Provinces. Lalesh, the Yezidi Holy Temple is in Shexan.
Within the Kurdistan Region, there are more than half a million Yezidis, with close to a million settled in other parts of the world.
Throughout history, Yezidis have been an oppressed people, but possess a rich spiritual tradition that they contend is the world's oldest.
Red Wednesday is considered to be the holiest day of the year for the Yezidi people.

About the Kurdistan Regional Government

The Kurdistan Region is an autonomous region in federal Iraq. With a population of currently around 4 million and rapidly increasing, the three governorates of Duhuk, Erbil and Sulaimani cover approximately 40,000 square miles. The Kurdistan Region is considered to be the safest, most stable Region in Iraq, and it is host to an ever expanding number of commercial and trade initiatives. For more information, please visit www.krg.org.

This has been distributed by Qorvis Communications, LLC on behalf of the Kurdistan Regional Government. More information is available at the US Department of Justice, Washington, DC.

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SOURCE Kurdistan Regional Government