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During the Yezidi holiday in December a Yezidi cemetery in Afrin, Syria, was vandalized and several graves desecrated. This in itself is an abhorrent act of intolerance, but it also symbolizes the existential risk that extremists in Syria and Iraq pose to the religious minority communities, especially Yezidis.
Afrin had been a relatively inclusive and peaceful enclave in Syria only a few years ago, with a sizable Yezidi population. However, in January 2018, Turkey began an assault on this previously peaceful area in Northwest Syria. Now that Turkish-backed militias and extremists control Afrin, most of the minority population has fled, and it is now a hotbed for Islamic extremism. Yezidis mourns the destruction of the community in this area and the hatred and intolerance demonstrated by the destruction of the Yezidi cemetery this year to mark the Yezidi holiday.
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