The Shengal Resistance Units (YBŞ) released a written statement to mark Çarşema Sor (Red Wednesday, celebrated on the first Wednesday of the new year, April, according to the Yazidi belief).

The statement said that Çarşema Sor was welcomed every year as the beginning of a new life. The YBŞ called attention to the attacks, dirty plans and conspiracies against the people and emphasized that the purpose of these attacks and plans was to destroy the faith and sacraments of the Yazidis.

The statement continued: “They want to destroy all the values of humanity by targeting our people with attacks. However, despite all these dirty plans and attacks, our people have not given up their faith. On the contrary, they have represented humanity even more.”

The statement remarked that a heavy price was paid for the celebration of Çarşema Sor with great enthusiasm. "For 9 years, our people have been celebrating this day with a unique struggle that emerged after the Yazidi genocide."

The YBŞ stressed that Çarşema Sor would be more meaningful with the building of the Autonomous Shengal. It said: "Come together and protect your beliefs, values and religion."

The YBŞ also commemorated the heroes of the Yazidis with respect, and congratulated the families of the martyrs, the Yazidi people and all their comrades on Çarşema Sor.

The statement concluded: "As YBŞ and YJŞ, we reiterate our promise that we will turn every holiday into a struggle for freedom and a free life through the unity and solidarity of our people."

RED WEDNESDAY

"Çarşema Sor" in Kurdish means "Red Wednesday". "Çarşem" consists of the Kurdish words "çar" for “four” and "şem" for “week”, meaning the "fourth day of the week", which is Wednesday. "Sor" means red. The day is also called "Sersal" (Kurdish "ser": up, head and/or top; and "sal": year), meaning "New Year".

NEW YEAR TIME

The Yazidi New Year is celebrated on the first Wednesday in April, which, according to the Yazidi calendar, is always the first day of April and the New Year. Since the Yazidi calendar follows the Gregorian calendar by 13 days, the New Year is celebrated on the first Wednesday in April, which falls on or after April 14th in the Gregorian calendar. In Kurdish, the month of April is called "Nîsan". The first day of the month "Nîsan" is the "Çarşema Sor".

MYTHOLOGY

According to Yazidi mythology, the "red Wednesday" is the day on which the creation of the earth was completed: The sun's rays reached the earth for the first time, turning the firmament red. The name "Red Wednesday" comes from this. Furthermore, it was the day on which the head of the Yazidi archangels, Tawisî Melek (God's angel), first came to earth. Tawisî Melek is the center of the seven archangels, so he represents Wednesday, the middle of the week or the center of the seven archangels. Wednesday is the rest day of the Yazidis, similar to Sunday for Christians.