Frequently asked questions

Its statutes have been signed and its declaration was filed with the prefecture on 25 September 2026. It is awaiting the official receipt, so it does not yet have an RNA number (its number in France’s national register of associations) or a bank account, and membership is not open.

No. Anyone who shares the association’s aims can join; membership is approved by the board. See Join.

The 2027 amounts are shown on the Join page: from €15 to €150 a year depending on the rate. There is nothing to pay today: no fee is collected before membership opens.

Not for now: the association does not yet have a bank account and accepts no money at all, neither donations nor membership fees. If anyone asks you for money in its name, do not pay and let us know. You can, however, offer to volunteer, for example to translate or proofread texts in Russian or Kurmanji, or to welcome visitors at the future drop-in sessions in Angers: write to contact@uniondesyezidisdefrance.fr and just tell us which languages you speak and how much time you have. Donations will only be possible once the bank account is open; no tax receipt can be issued at this stage.

No. Help with paperwork will be free of charge, for members and non-members alike. See Support for families.

No. We will help you understand and prepare your paperwork, always with you present: you stay in charge.

No. It makes Yazidi culture and faith better known, but it holds no religious services and supports no political party.

A Kurmanji-speaking people whose religion, monotheistic and handed down mostly by word of mouth, took shape in Mesopotamia. Their central sanctuary is Lalish, in northern Iraq. Most Yazidi families in France come from Armenia, Georgia and Russia, where many Yazidis had found refuge after the persecutions of 1915–1918. See The Yazidi people.

No. The Yazidi religion is a religion in its own right, monotheistic, and not a branch of Islam: scholars have largely abandoned that old idea. One is born Yazidi; the religion does not seek converts. See The Yazidi people, Religion.

Yazidis and Kurds share the same language, Kurmanji, and, according to a widespread historical tradition, a common origin going back to the Medes. Centuries of persecution have deeply separated their histories. Today, some Yazidis call themselves Kurds, others see themselves as a people in their own right, like other communities in the region (Druze, Zaza…). The Union des Yézidis de France welcomes everyone attached to Yazidi culture, however they define themselves.

All these forms refer to the same people. In Kurmanji, Yazidis call themselves êzdî or êzîdî. In English you will find “Yazidi”, “Yezidi” and “Ezidi”; in French, “yézidi” (the form used on the French pages of this site), “yazidi” and “ézidi”. Some authors have linked the name to the Umayyad caliph Yazid I: Yazidis reject that connection.

Sinjar (Şingal in Kurmanji) is a district in north-western Iraq, in Nineveh province, at the foot of a mountain about a hundred kilometres long, near the Syrian border. According to the UN Commission of Inquiry (2016), it was home to the majority of the world’s Yazidis before the Islamic State attack of 3 August 2014. The map Sinjar, August 2014 follows events place by place, with their sources.

Not by law, as far as we know (checked on 25 September 2026). In December 2016, the Senate and the National Assembly adopted resolutions calling on the government to act; a recognition bill tabled in the Senate on 17 April 2024 has not been passed. French courts, however, have used the term: on 20 March 2026, the Paris assize court convicted a French jihadist, presumed dead, in absentia, of genocide and crimes against humanity. It is the first conviction in France for the genocide of the Yazidis. Details and sources: Sinjar, August 2014, Recognition.

The bilingual Kurmanji-French book R’ê-r’izma miletê Êzdî, by H’esenê Şêx K’eleşê (1943–2018), will cost €20. In mainland France it will be sold on this website; outside France, on Amazon. It is not on sale yet: sales will open once the association’s bank account is open and the printed books have arrived. See the book’s page.

This website delivers to mainland France only. For other countries, the book will be offered on Amazon (Amazon.de for Germany, Amazon.fr for Belgium and Luxembourg, and other European Amazon sites), printed on demand and delivered by Amazon, at Amazon’s own prices and on its own terms. It is not on sale there yet. Nothing can be shipped to Russia or Belarus.

French, Russian, Kurmanji or English.

Its seat is in Angers (Maine-et-Loire). The postal address will be published once the association has received the official receipt for its declaration. Drop-in sessions are planned in Angers; days and times will be announced on this site.

Without giving us your address: subscribe to the website’s RSS feed in the language of your choice (French, Russian, Kurmanji, English) with any feed reader. Announcements appear on the News page. To be told when membership opens or when the book goes on sale, you can also write to contact@uniondesyezidisdefrance.fr. There is no newsletter yet.

Not yet. This collection will only begin once the data protection safeguards that this kind of information requires are in place. No name will be published without the family’s written consent. You can ask to be told when it starts; please do not send any documents yet.

As little as possible. This website sets no analytics or advertising cookies and has no form that collects data: we only process the messages you choose to send us, in order to reply, and we pass them on to no one. Please do not mention your religion or which group of the community you belong to, and do not send identity documents unless we have asked for them. Details: Personal data.

They are other associations. The Union des Yézidis de France is a new association, separate from the “Union des Yezidis en France”, registered in Paris in 2013, and from the Fédération de Yézidis de France.