A Question to Turkish MP Gülcan Kaçmaz Sayyiğit – Why Use the Ezidis to Play Victim?

23 April 2024 

Last week, the Ezidi people celebrated the New Year, marking the 6774th year according to the Sharfadin religion. While the Ezidi people tried to celebrate this joyous holiday, Ezidi Times discovered how this very holy occasion was used for political purposes.

Last week, on April 18, 2024, an MP, Gülcan Kaçmaz Sayyiğit, congratulated the Ezidis on the occasion of “Çarșema Sor” (as she worded it) in the Turkish Parliament. Her microphone was turned off by Bekir Bozdağ, who was overseeing the session. Bozdağ stressed that only the official language of Turkey (Turkish) is allowed, to which Kaçmaz Sayyiğit responded that she had congratulated in Turkish and now also in Kurdish, which does not divide the country.

While this might seem like a nice gesture from the Turkish MP, congratulating the Ezidi people on the occasion of the Ezidi New Year, attention must be given to the underlying motives behind this act. While seemingly congratulating the Ezidi people, she is actually enforcing the following agendas: 

(1) That the Ezidi people are celebrating “Çarșema Sor”,

(2) That the Ezidi people speak “Kurdish”,

(3) That the Ezidi people are Kurds, and

(4) Most importantly, she is using the Ezidi people to portray herself as a victim.

(1) If her congratulations were genuine, she would have congratulated the Ezidis on the occasion of “Çarșema Serê Nisane” or “Çarșema Serê Sale” and not “Çarșema Sor”. Although some might think this is insignificant, Ezidi Times wants to remind all Ezidis around the world that these new narratives aim to alter and destroy the Ezidi identity. This is similar to when the Kurds started with the idea that “Ezidis speak Kurdish” instead of the fact that “Ezidis speak Ezdiki”. The aim is to have “Newroz” as the official New Year celebration for the Kurds and diminish the Ezidi New Year by changing it from “Çarșema Serê Nisane” (first Wednesday of April) or “Çarșema Serê Sale” (first Wednesday of the year) to just “Çarșema Sor” (Red Wednesday). There is a huge difference between Çarșema Serê Nisane being recognized as the New Year of the Ezidi people compared to diminishing the holiday to just being “a Red Wednesday for all Kurds”. This is yet another step to destroy, alter, and steal the Ezidi identity.

(2) The Ezidi people don’t simply speak “Kurdish”. Yes, kurdish people understand the language of the Ezidis and there are some similarities; but the Ezidis don’t speak Kurdish. In fact, the classification of “Kurdish” as a language can be questioned as it is not a language but rather a term encompassing various languages spoken by Kurds. (Read more about this issue here in our previous article.) The bottom line is: A similar example is the relationship between Hindi and Urdu. Urdu has derived from Hindi in the same way as Kurmanji has derived from Ezdiki.

(3 and 4) By simply referring to the Ezidi holiday as something that the “Kurds” celebrate and congratulating the people in “Kurdish”, the MP is diminishing the unique Ezidi identity. She is considering them to be Kurds without even considering what the Ezidis actually think about this “inclusion”. The questions to Mrs. Gülcan Kaçmaz Sayyiğit are the following: 

Who gave you the right to make the Ezidis “Kurds”? 

Aren’t you just oppressing the Ezidi people the exact same way the Turks are oppressing you from expressing your identity?

Why use the Ezidis to play victim when you yourself radiate typical oppressor behaviour? Have you forgotten how the fact has come to be that there are no Ezidis (or other minorities, for that matter) left in Van? Van which you proudly claim as your hometown. Have you forgotten how you ancestors massacred the Ezidis from Van so that you can spread your roots in Van? 

Thank you, but No thank you! If you genuinely want to congratulate the Ezidi people on their New Year do it like this: “I want to take the opportunity to congratulate all the Ezidis on their celebration of Çarșema Serê Nisane/Çarșema Serê Sale.” 

Use other issues to create a conflict with the Turkish MP:s.