Aug
2024
Hind & Jacklin - Yezidi survivors
On August 3, 2014, Jacklin and Hind, both 6 years old, were abducted by ISIS in Sinjar. The two Yezidi girls met each other in Tel Afar, where they were held in a school used by ISIS as a transfer point before being sold to families who exploited them as slaves. For years, they endured regular beatings, forced conversions to Islam, and required prayers. After their liberation, the girls were reunited in Sharya near Duhok. Today, they are inseparable best friends, demonstrating remarkable strength and resilience.
Aamr was eleven when abducted by ISIS in 2014 and lives in Sharya Camp, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.
Abdo abducted in Sinjar, Iraq in 2014.
Over 2 000 Yezidis are still missing ten years later.
Oct
2023
Dry spell in Iraq
Traveling from Mosul all the way to the south of Iraq, one can witness the severe repercussions of increasingly hot weather each year. Abandoned villages and tourist areas are now desolate, the marshes have dried up, and young men are living on deserted islands within the marshes. The villages have been abandoned as people migrate to larger cities due to the lack of clean water.
Jul
2023
Cardinal Sako leaves Baghdad
The Chaldean Patriarch, Cardinal Louis Sako, withdrew from his headquarters in Baghdad and moved to Erbil after the Iraqi President, Abdul Latif Rashid, revoked the decree recognizing him as patriarch of the Chaldeans. The Chaldeans are Iraq's largest Christian denomination and one of the Catholic Church's Eastern rites. Today, the number of Christians in Iraq is estimated at 150,000, down from 1.5 million in 2003.
Additionally, there is a feud between the patriarch and militia leader Rayan al-Kildani, who leads the Babylon Brigade.
Jun
2023
The Kurdish Amazon
Semyanî Perîzade is a Kurdish, bisexual singer from a small Kurdish town near Diyarbakir. She is currently living in Istanbul. In 2023, she ran for the legislative elections as a candidate for the pro-Kurdish Green Party, aiming to advocate for Kurdish and women's rights in Turkey. Although she was not included on the party lists due to public insults and humiliations, she continues to resist through her art.
Before the elections, she released a song titled "Biryareki" (Choice) in Kurmanji.
May
2023
Techno scene in Iraq
The techno scene in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq is growing rapidly. The younger generation from across Iraq and even the broader Middle East travel to the region to enjoy weekends of electronic music as an alternative to conflict. The events, often held in ever-changing locations, are primarily set in the mountains near Shaqlawa and Sulaymaniyah or near the artificial lake Dukan. One of the notable events is Soulescape, though there are many others now.
This story has been covered in Tsugi Magazine.
Feb
2023
Deadliest earthquake since 100 years
The death toll from the 7.8 magnitude earthquake, followed by a series of aftershocks, that struck Turkey and Syria on February 6, 2023, has surpassed 55,000 people.
Fahed Acuz, a Syrian refugee who has been living in Stuttgart, Germany, since 2014, received a call from one of his brothers informing him that their older brother, sister-in-law, and three of his nieces and nephews had died in Nurdağı, Turkey.
Nurdağı, a city 45 kilometers from Gaziantep with approximately 40,000 inhabitants, has been heavily affected. Half of the city is destroyed, and the other half has evacuated due to the destruction, fear of aftershocks, and concerns that their buildings might also collapse.
Overload of Cemeteries
The cemetery in Nurdağı, a city with a population of 40,000 people, has run out of space to bury all the victims. As a result, families are having to transport the corpses to Gaziantep, where excavators are preparing mass graves.
Man and Women mourning because they have lost 10 people of their family in one night, one whole floor collapsed and they were all sleeping in one room, Gaziantep, Turkey.
The grave of Fahed's brother in Gaziantep, Turkey.
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