Kurdish Zoroastrians to Open Council in Rojava

Yasna NGO for promoting the cultural aspects of Zoroastrianism based in Sulaymaniyah province in the Kurdistan Region announced a plan on Sunday to open a centre in Afrin city in Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava) for the followers of the faith in the region.

Awat Tayib, the head of the organization and the representative of Zoroastrians in the Ministry of Endowment and Religious Affairs in the Kurdistan Region told BasNews that Zoroastrianism faith has made incredible progress in Kurdistan Region and “we decided today to open Yasna council for philosophy of Zoroastrianism in Rojava”.

Tayib added that they will soon visit Afrin in Rojava in order to open the council to further promote the Zoroastrianism philosophy.

Zoroastrianism is one of the oldest faiths which is thought to have emerged from a common prehistoric Indo-Iranian religious system dating the early 2nd millennium BC. The prophet Zoroaster is the founder of the faith who is thought by many modern historians to have been a reformer of the polytheistic Iranian religion who lived in the 10th century BC.

A growing number of Kurds, particularly among the youth, started to convert to Zoroastrianism following the Islamic State (IS) attack on Kurdistan Region.

Kurds are known as the most peaceful people in the Middle East, living in coexistence for centuries in an area where others have been struggling with religious and sectarian issues among their communities.

Published on BasNews