2011 Duhok riots | |
---|---|
Date | December 2–5, 2011 |
Location | |
Caused by | Islamic sermons [1] |
Goals | To destroy massage parlors and alcohol shops |
Methods | Arson, coercion |
Resulted in | Widespread property damage, arrest of KIU members |
The 2011 Duhok riots refers to riots which began on December 2, 2011 in the Duhok Governorate, Iraq. They were instigated by Friday prayers' sermons by Ismail Osman Sindai, [2] a Kurdish imam, calling for attacks against stores selling alcohol and massage parlours in Zakho. The riots soon developed into the looting and burning down of Assyrian- and Yazidi-owned properties in other towns in the governorate, causing four million dollars of damage. [3]
The riots ended after Kurdistan Regional Government security forces intervened and began a massive crackdown on demonstrators. As a result of the riots, a group of secular Kurds attacked a number of buildings belonging to the Kurdistan Islamic Union party. [4]
Assyrian personalities in the region had been wary of the changes of the Arab Spring, particularity the rise of radical Islamism. [5] The riots started in Zakho, the northernmost town of Iraq, located close to the Turkish border. The town has a majority Kurdish population with a sizeable Assyrian and Yazidi minority.
The small riots were instigated by Friday sermons in the northern city of Zakho after Muslim clerics called for the destruction of stores that sold alcohol in the city on December 2, 2011. [5] Angry youth mobs attacked Assyrian- and Yazidi-owned businesses such as stores, hotels, casinos, and massage parlors in the northern town of Zakho. [1] [6] The violence spilled into nearby towns of Duhok and Semel. Many Assyrian social clubs and homes were also attacked throughout the province. Angry Kurdish pro-government supporters that belonged to the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and Kurdistan Democratic Party suspected Muslim Brotherhood-inspired Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) clerics to be behind the violence and attacked offices of the Islamic party in Duhok and Erbil overnight. However, in an official statement, the KIU denied any connections to the riots. [7]
The riots ended three days later with the strong response from the Kurdistan Regional Government.
Riots began in Zakho but quickly expanded to Semel, Duhok and surrounding Assyrian villages.
On December 3, the Kurdish intelligence agency Asaish arrested 20 KIU members of parliament and high officials within the party. [19] The President of Iraqi Kurdistan Masoud Barzani ordered the formation of a committee to investigate the event. [20] In an official press release, he stated: "I condemn both these unlawful acts. I call on the people of the Kurdistan Region to preserve our traditions of ethnic and religious co-existence. I have ordered the formation of a committee to look into these disturbances and bring to justice those responsible." [21]
Duhok Governorate is a governorate in the autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Its capital is the city of Duhok. It includes Zakho, near the Ibrahim Khalil border crossing with Şırnak Province, Turkey. It borders the Al-Hasakah Governorate of Syria. It was established on 27 May 1969, previously part of Nineveh Governorate.
Duhok is a city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It is the capital city of Duhok Governorate.
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Zakho, also spelled Zaxo is a city in the Kurdistan Region, at the centre of the Zakho District of the Dohuk Governorate, located a few kilometers from the Ibrahim-Khalil border
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Kurdistan Islamic Union, colloquially referred to as Yekgirtû, is a Kurdish Islamist party in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Simele or Semel is a town located in the Dohuk province of Kurdistan Region in Iraq. The town is on the main road that connects Kurdistan Region to its neighbor Turkey. It is 14 km (8.7 mi) west of Dohuk. The town had a population of 71,557 in July 2018.
Duhok Sports Club is a professional sports club, based in Duhok, Iraqi Kurdistan. Founded in 1970, the club competes in the Iraq Stars League, and also fields a team in the Kurdistan Premier League. Duhok SC's biggest rivals are also their neighbours Zakho, always producing the most passionate and fierce matches every season, with whom they contest the "Badinan Derby".
Du'a Khalil Aswad was a 17-year-old Iraqi girl of the Yazidi faith who was stoned to death in Bashiqa, Ninawa, northern Iraq in early April 2007, the victim of an honor killing. It is believed that she was killed around 7 April 2007, but the incident did not come to light until video of the stoning, apparently recorded on multiple cell phones, appeared on the Internet. The rumor that the stoning was connected to her alleged conversion to Islam prompted reprisals against Yazidis by Sunnis, including the 2007 Mosul massacre.
Zakho Sport Club, also spelled as Zaxo Sport Club, is an Iraqi professional sports club based in Zakho, Iraqi Kurdistan.
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Sharanish is an Assyrian village in Dohuk Governorate in Kurdistan Region, Iraq. It is located near the Iraq–Turkey border in the district of Zakho.
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Faysh Khabur is a town on the northwestern edge of the Kurdistan Region in the Zakho District of Duhok Governorate of Iraq. It is named after the Khabur River on which the town is built, and lies on the confluence of the Tigris and Khabur river. The town is in a very strategic location, as it lies just 4 km south from the Semalka Border Crossing with Syria as well as being close to the border with Turkey.
Dayrabun is a village in Dohuk Governorate in Kurdistan Region, Iraq. It is located near the confluence of the Iraq-Syria-Turkey border in the Zakho District.
Zakho International Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Zakho, Kurdistan Region, Iraq. It is used mostly for football matches and serves as the home stadium of Zakho FC which plays in the Iraqi Premier League. The stadium holds 25,000 people. It has 20 entrance and exit gates. The roof consists of 12,000 m 2 of polycarbonate architectural panels shaded in red and white depicting the colors of the local team. Construction took 3 years for a total cost of $20 million.
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The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Zakho, Iraq.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Duhok, Iraq.
Alphabetical index of articles about the Yazidis, and their history and culture.