ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdish music group Koma Amed will hold a concert in Stuttgart, Germany on Saturday to raise funds for a hospital in the Yazidi heartland of Shingal.
Proceeds from the event will cover transportation costs for patients who need to access psychotherapy services at Sinune Hospital near Shingal.
“People are in a difficult situation. Most of them live in camps or remote areas. Because of extreme heat and cold, poor roads, and lack of money for transportation or taxis, they cannot reach the hospital for treatment,” Ilhan Kizilhan, founder of Sinune Hospital and organizer of the concert, told Rudaw.
The hospital was opened in 2021 with support from the German government and its staff were trained in collaboration with Duhok University.
Koma Amed was formed in 1988 and released their first album Kulilka Azadi (The Flower of Freedom) in secret because the Kurdish language was banned in Turkey at the time. Their music became a symbol of resistance and several band members were forced to flee to Europe. The group ended 30 years in exile in October, returning to perform a concert in Diyarbakir.
The concert will be held at the palace of the government of Baden-Wurttemberg state in southwest Germany, a location Kizilhan said carries symbolic weight.
“It is a strong message of friendship between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Baden-Wurttemberg region,” he said.
The hope is that the concert will draw global attention to the continued suffering of Yazidis, as international focus and financial aid have waned, Kizilhan added.
All tickets have been sold out. Several senior German officials are expected to attend.
With an estimated population of 140,000, Sinune is one of the largest predominantly Yazidi towns in Nineveh’s Shingal district.