(19 Apr 2023)
IRAQ YAZIDI NEW YEAR

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS

RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

LENGTH: 2:45

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Sheikhan, Iraq - 18 April 2023

1. Women cheering to mark start of Yazidi New Year celebration
2. Yazidi women wearing traditional clothes during celebration
3. Pan of woman holding flames to light wicks
4. Yazidi women holding burning wicks placed on stones
5. Various of participants attending celebration at Lalesh shrine
6. SOUNDBITE (Kurdish) Mahwar Shemo, Yazidi celebrating New Year:
"Today is the eve of Charshamba Sur (Red Wednesday) feast, during which the Taus Melek (Peacock Angel) is celebrated. We are gathering to light wicks, specifically 365 wicks, and tomorrow we will place flowers on doors, go on picnics, and extend congratulations for the feast. It is also an opportunity to resolve feuds, make donations, and visit graves."

7. Various of celebration
8. Head of Yazidi religion Baba Sheikh reciting prayers for the occasion
9. Baba Sheikh lighting wicks during ceremony
10. Young women holding burning wicks during celebration
11. SOUNDBITE (Kurdish) Rezan Reber, Yazidi celebrating New Year:
"We came today to participate in the ceremonies of New Year Flowers feast, and I would like to extend my congratulations to all the Yazidi people."

12. Various of people kissing door frame of holy shrine
13. Various of woman lighting wicks inside shrine
14. Various of woman kissing and making wish knots at shrine
15. SOUNDBITE (Kurdish) Nahida Kulu, Yazidi from Sinjar who lives in Germany:
"I wish and hope that our people, who are still being held hostage by the Islamic State group, can be rescued and that our boys and girls can be saved. I also urge every individual and every country to take action and speak up on behalf of those captives."

16. Various of Yazidis lighting wicks
17. Various of celebration
STORYLINE:
Thousands of Iraq's Yazidis celebrated their New Year at the ancient Yazidi temple of Lalesh in northern Iraq on Tuesday evening.

The occasion is known as Charshamba Sur or Red Wednesday, but celebrations are held on the eve of the day.

It is a time to "to resolve feuds, make donations, and visit graves," said Mahwar Shemo, one of the Yazidis who celebrated the event.

The celebration marks the year 6773 on the Yazidi calendar.

It's also the anniversary of the creation of the planet and the day the Lalesh holy shrine, the religion's most important temple, was created, according to Yazidi religion.

The Yazidis believe that a supreme being created the world, but does not rule it.

Instead, his will is carried out by seven angels, chief among them is the Peacock Angel.

The tomb of Sheikh Adi, in the town of Lalesh north of Mosul, is a Yazidi shrine and pilgrimage site.

When they celebrate the holiday, Yazidis light up candle wicks at the site of the shrine.

The Yazidis have been the target of violence and purges over centuries, and have survived as a close-knit community that does not proselytize.

Islamic State group militants rampaged across their northern town of Sinjar in 2014, killing Yazidi men and abducting thousands of women and children.

AP video shot by Rashid Yahya

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