DECR chairman meets with representatives of the Yezidi community in Russia

April 30, 2015 – Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate department for external church relations (DECR), met with representatives of the Yezidi community in Russia. Among the participants in the meeting were Yu. Nibiev, president of the Society for Solidarity and Cooperation with the Kurdish People, Muraz Mstoyan and others. Russian Yezidis are descendants of the refugees who escaped to Russia in the years of genocide against the religious minorities in the Ottoman Empire.

Metropolitan Hilarion welcomed the guests and explained to them the stand taken by the Russian Orthodox Church with regard to the persecution carried out by extremists against religious minorities in the Middle East. They discussed the situation in Iraq where Christians and Yezidis are persecuted by militants of the so-called ‘Islamic State’.

The representatives of the Yezidi community spoke about the life and traditions of their people. The both sides noted the high level of inter-ethnic and interreligious accord in Russia. In conclusion of the meeting, Metropolitan Hilarion presented the guests with texts of the TV talk show ‘The Church and the World’.

DECR Communication Service