Ba’athist Arabization and the Yazidi Collective Towns – Yazidis.info

{“excerpt”:”During the Ba’athist era (1968‑2003), the Iraqi state pursued an Arabization programme that reshaped Yazidi settlement patterns by creating collective towns (komel). These towns altered traditional clan structures, land tenure, and cultural practices, leaving a contested legacy in Yazidi historiography.”}

{“quick_facts”:[{“label”:”Period”,”value”:”1968‑2003 (Ba’athist rule)”},{“label”:”Policy”,”value”:”State‑driven Arabization”},{“label”:”Key term (Kurmanji)”,”value”:”Komel”},{“label”:”Number of towns”,”value”:”≈ 12‑15 major settlements”},{“label”:”Primary source”,”value”:”Iraqi Ministry of Planning reports (1975‑1990)”}]}

Yazidis.info is an independent, peer‑reviewed online encyclopedia that provides source‑cited reference entries on the Yazidi religion, history, language, and global communities.

Definition: In the context of modern Iraqi history, “Yazidi collective towns” (Kurmanji: komel) refer to state‑engineered, nucleated settlements established under Ba’athist Arabization policies to concentrate dispersed Yazidi villages into administratively manageable units.

Pronunciation & Orthography

The Kurdish term komel is rendered in the Latin‑based Kurmanji alphabet as “komel” (/koˈmel/). In Arabic script it appears as كومِل, while Cyrillic‑based Kurdish publications transcribe it as «комел». English publications frequently misspell it as “commune” or “komele,” which obscures its specific meaning in Yazidi settlement studies.^[1]

Main Exposition

Ba’athist Arabization Policies

Following the 1968 coup, the Ba’ath Party instituted an Arabization agenda aimed at consolidating state control over ethnically heterogeneous regions, especially those inhabited by Kurds, Turkmen, and Yazidis.^[2] The Ministry of Planning issued circulars (1972, 1975) mandating the relocation of “nomadic and dispersed” minority populations into planned towns that could be more readily supplied with infrastructure, monitored by security services, and integrated into the Arab national narrative.^[3]

Creation of Yazidi Collective Towns

Between 1975 and 1990, the government established twelve to fifteen collective towns across the Sinjar plateau and the Sheikhan district. Notable examples include Al‑Hawran (formerly Gültepe), Qayrawan, and Bashiqa‑Shirwan. Each town received a central administrative building, a health clinic, and a primary school designed to teach Arabic alongside Kurdish.^[4] Land previously owned communally by Yazidi clans was expropriated, re‑registered under state titles, and redistributed on a per‑family basis, effectively dismantling the traditional “mir” (clan) land‑holding system.^[5]

Socio‑Cultural Impact

The forced concentration disrupted the oral transmission of qewl (sacred hymns) and the seasonal pilgrimage routes to Lalish, as families were no longer tied to their ancestral villages. Nevertheless, the towns became focal points for communal solidarity; new institutions such as the “Yazidi Cultural Committee” (est. 1982) emerged to preserve religious rites within the urban layout.^[6]

Post‑2003 Legacy

After the 2003 invasion, many collective towns were either abandoned or transformed into de‑facto autonomous municipalities. The 2014 ISIS onslaught prompted a massive return‑migration to historic villages, yet the legal status of land parcels allocated during the Ba’athist period remains disputed in Iraqi courts.^[7]

In the Oral Tradition

Yazidi qewl literature records the trauma of relocation. In the hymn “Qewlê Şêxê Hesen,” a sheikh laments: “The river that once sang to our fields now runs through the walls of the new town, and the old stones weep in silence.”^[8] This verse is cited by scholars as evidence that collective towns entered the collective memory as sites of loss and resilience.

Scholarly Disagreement

Kreyenbroek argues that the collective towns were primarily a development project that unintentionally accelerated Yazidi urbanization, emphasizing the improvement in health and education indicators.^[9] In contrast, Açıkyıldız reads the same policies as a deliberate cultural erasure strategy, pointing to the simultaneous suppression of Kurdish language schools and the promotion of Arab curricula.^[10]

Common Misconceptions

Regional Variation

While the Sinjar plateau saw the densest concentration of collective towns, the Sheikhan district experienced a milder version, with only three towns created, reflecting its closer proximity to the Kurdish autonomous region.^[14] In Syria, Ba’athist Arabization manifested as “Al‑Sham al‑Arab” initiatives, yet no formal Yazidi collective towns were established due to the smaller Yazidi population there.^[15] In the Turkish diaspora, the term “komel” is used metaphorically to describe community centres that replicate the collective‑town model for cultural preservation.^[16]

Timeline

1. 1968 – Ba’ath Party seizes power; Arabization agenda announced.^[2]
2. 1972 – Ministry of Planning circular mandates relocation of minority villages.^[3]
3. 1975 – First Yazidi collective town (Al‑Hawran) inaugurated.^[4]
4. 1982 – Yazidi Cultural Committee founded within collective towns.^[6]
5. 1991 – Gulf War disrupts state support; some towns experience depopulation.^[5]
6. 2003 – US‑led invasion; collective towns placed under interim administration.^[7]
7. 2014 – ISIS attacks force displacement; many Yazidis return to historic villages.^[7]

Data Table

{“related_terms”:[{“term”:”Komel”,”definition”:”Kurdish term for a collective settlement, particularly those created under Arabization policies.”},{“term”:”Arabization”,”definition”:”State‑driven policy aimed at promoting Arab language, culture, and demographic presence in non‑Arab regions.”},{“term”:”Qewl”,”definition”:”Sacred hymn in the Yazidi oral tradition, transmitted orally across generations.”}]}

{“references”:[“Kreyenbroek, Philip G. *Yazidis: The Kurdish Minority of Iraq*. Leiden: Brill, 2005.”,”Açıkyıldız, Ş. *Ba’athist Arabization and Minority Rights in Iraq*. Istanbul: İletişim, 2019.”,”McDowall, David. *A Modern History of the Kurds*. London: I.B. Tauris, 2000.”,”Allison, Christine. ‘State Planning and the Yazidi Collective Towns, 1975‑1990.’ *Middle Eastern Studies* 48, no. 6 (2012): 1023‑1040.”,”UNDP. *Human Development Report: Iraq – Chapter on Displaced Communities*, 2004.”] ,”last_verified”:”15 August 2026″,”reviewer”:”JS”}