The Yazidis (also Yezidis,Êzidî; 
i/jəˈziːdiːz/ yə-zee-dees) are a Kurdish[18]religious community[19] or anethno-religious group[20]indigenous to northernMesopotamia whose strictlyendogamous,[21][22] and ancient religion Yazidism[23]is not linked toZoroastrianism[24][25][26]but to ancient Mesopotamian religions, though Yazidis form a distinct and independent religious community and have their own culture.[27][28][29]They live primarily in theNineveh Province of Iraq. Additional communities in Armenia, Georgia, Turkey, Iran, and Syria have been in decline since the 1990s as a result of significant migration to Europe, especially to Germany.[30]
i/jəˈziːdiːz/ yə-zee-dees) are a Kurdish[18]religious community[19] or anethno-religious group[20]indigenous to northernMesopotamia whose strictlyendogamous,[21][22] and ancient religion Yazidism[23]is not linked toZoroastrianism[24][25][26]but to ancient Mesopotamian religions, though Yazidis form a distinct and independent religious community and have their own culture.[27][28][29]They live primarily in theNineveh Province of Iraq. Additional communities in Armenia, Georgia, Turkey, Iran, and Syria have been in decline since the 1990s as a result of significant migration to Europe, especially to Germany.[30]
The Yazidis are monotheists,[31] believing in God as creator of the world, which he has placed under the care of seven holy beings or angels, the chief of whom isMelek Taus, the Peacock Angel. The Peacock Angel, as world-ruler, causes both good and bad to befall individuals, and this ambivalent character is reflected in myths of his own temporary fall from God's favour, before his remorseful tears extinguished the fires of his hellish prison and he was reconciled with God.[citation needed]
This belief builds on Sufimystical reflections onIblis, who refused to prostrate to Adam despite God's express command to do so.[32] Because of this connection to the Sufi Iblis tradition, some followers of other monotheistic religions of the region equate the Peacock Angel with their own unredeemed evil spiritSatan,[33][34][35][36] which has incited centuries of persecution of the Yazidis as "devil worshippers." Persecution of Yazidis has continued in their home communities within the borders of modern Iraq, under fundamentalist Sunni Muslimrevolutionaries.[37]
Starting in August 2014, the Yazidis were targeted by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in its campaign to "purify" Iraq and neighbouring countries of non-Islamic influences.[38]
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