Pi

Kurds have long been victims of having other identities imposed on them. We know better than most what it means to be told who we are and how we should identify ourselves. So we simply cannot turn around and do the same to the Yezidi community by forcing a Kurdish identity on them. Yezidis have every right to define their own identity, whether they consider themselves Kurdish, Yezidi, or both. That's entirely their choice, and it should be respected. The more Kurds try to impose a Kurdish identity on Yezidis, the more they risk pushing them away. It's a basic lesson from our own history: forcing an identity on people doesn't make them embrace it. More often, it produces resentment, alienation, and resistance. Kurds have experienced exactly this for at least the past century, so it's astonishing that some still fail to recognise the irony. And let's not forget that we're talking about a community that has recently survived a genocide, mass displacement, and unimaginable suffering. The last thing Yezidis need is another struggle over who gets to define their identity. They deserve dignity, respect, and the freedom to speak for themselves. If we genuinely want to strengthen the bonds between Kurds and Yezidis, those bonds must be built on mutual respect, not pressure or coercion. After all, the right to self-identification cannot be something we demand for ourselves while denying it to others.