Six months after the death of Mir Tahseen Saeed Bag, his son Hazim was inaugurated as the new leader of the Ezidi community in Iraq and the world.

During the inauguration ceremony which was held on Saturday July 27 at Lalish temple in Sheikhan, Mir Hazim said he will establish a new council for the Ezidi community.

“We will establish a new council which Shingal Ezidis will make up 60% of it,” he said in a press conference following his inauguration.

The decision was in response to recent demands by Ezidi tribal leaders which they laid down as a condition to support their upcoming leader.

Mir Hazim vowed to serve his community and promised to work more closely with the Iraqi government to ensure the return of all Ezidi families displaced in the wake of the Islamic State (IS) group’s attacks in 2014 to their homes.

Over 350,000 Ezidis, mostly from Shingal (Sinjar) fled their homes after IS swept through the area in August 2014.

All the demands laid out by the tribal leaderswill be taken into consideration by the new Mir

Ali Khidir, head of the Ezidi spiritual council’s office, speaking to KirkukNow, said, “All the demands laid out by the tribal leaderswill be taken into consideration by the new Mir.”

He added that after the new Mir was sworn in, a ceremony will be held in Duhok in the presence of top officials.

Hazim Tahseen Beg, was born in 1964 in Sheikhan’s Ba’adre sub-district, Duhok. He graduated from Baghdad University’s college of agriculture. In 1988, Mir Hazim was elected as an MP in the Kurdistan Region parliament on the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP)’s list.

Mir Hazim was chosen among seven candidates after 6 months of deliberations.

He thanked KDP leader Massoud Barzani and both Kurdistan Region President and Prime Minister for their role in helping to resolve the deadlock over choosing the new Mir.

Mir Hazim succeeded his father Tahseen Saeed Beg who died in a Germany hospital on January 28, 2019 at the age of 85.

The majority of the Ezidis are settled in Sheikhan and Shingal.

The Ezidi community was subjected to numerous atrocities after IS overran Shingal in August 2014. In addition to the displacement of thousands of families, the fate of half ofthe 6,000 Ezidis who were kidnapped by IS remains unknown.