Lalish – The Kurdish government continues its uncompromising course in view of Haydar´s Shesho arrest, the Supreme Commander of Shingal´s Protection Force HPS. A source from the Ezidis´ Religious Council in Lalish who wishes to remain anonymous told ezidiPress that the Kurdish government under Massoud Barzani put the Ezidis´ Religious Council under pressure. The council is supposed to appeal to Shesho in order to urge him to fulfill the government´s demands.

Lalish Temple, central pilgrimage site of the Ezidis (Swiatoslaw Wojtkowiak)
Lalish Temple, central pilgrimage site of the Ezidis (Swiatoslaw Wojtkowiak)

`The government brings an enormous pressure to bear on the council members ´, the source said. A meeting between the Ezidis´ Religious Council and KDP members supposedly took place yesterday where KDP members urged the council to turn on the HPS, to openly support its closure and call on its fighters to submit to KDP Peshmerga.

The Ezidis´ Religious Council, politically and financially dependent on the Kurdish government, is repeatedly being put under pressure. Up to this point, Ezidis therefore miss a clear statement from the council condemning the arrest of Shesho.

The council, however, has rejected the government´s demands. `The council was not entitled to make a political decision in this matter´, the source added. The HPS supreme commander Haydar Shesho was arrested on April 5, 2015 by Kurdish security forces. He is being accused of forming an `illegitimate´ militia. Observers consider his arrest as politically motivated.

ezidiPress