Center hosts panel on Islamic State group, Yazidi massacre

UCLA’s Center for Near Eastern Studies will host a panel Thursday presenting two professors’ perspectives on the Islamic State group and the group’s massacre of the Yazidi religious minority group.

The Islamic State group, which controls parts of Syria and Iraq and is considered a terrorist group by the U.S. government, has been increasing its areas of control in the Middle East over the past two years.

The Islamic State group killed or captured thousands of Yazidis in northwest Iraq last summer, according to Reuters. More recently, the Islamic State group released about 350 Yazidis from captivity.

James L. Gelvin, a UCLA professor of modern Middle Eastern history, and Dartmouth College professor Zeynep Turkyilmaz will take part in the panel.

According to the event page, Gelvin will talk about the rise of the Islamic State group and discuss why he thinks the group’s foundation is more fragile than it seems. He is expected to argue that the group faces unlikely odds for future success, according to the page.

Turkyilmaz said she plans to outline the history of the killing of Yazidis from the days of the Ottoman Empire to today’s Islamic State group.

“When the Yazidis came under the genocidal attack of ISIS, we thought it would be nice to approach the issue from a historical perspective but also address what is new,” she said. “We wanted to see why Yazidis are particularly affected.”

Anyone can attend the free panel.

Compiled by Eliza Blackorby, Bruin contributor.