PUKMEDIA Exclusive: Researcher Warns of Ethnic Cleansing Targeting the Kakais

Interviews 11:17 AM - 2025-11-24

Kristiina Koivunen, researcher and co-author of “Kakai Calamity in the Iraqi Disputed Territories."

Kristiina Koivunen, researcher and co-author of “Kakai Calamity in the Iraqi Disputed Territories”, highlights the deepening challenges facing the Kakai community, from political marginalisation and misconceptions about their faith to what she describes as a “silent ethnic cleansing” threatening their ancestral homelands. Drawing on extensive research, she urges both Kurdish society and the international community to recognise the gravity of the situation and support efforts to protect one of Kurdistan’s oldest cultural groups.

An exclusive interview with Koivunen conducted by Besha Jawhar, Chief Executive of PUKMEDIA Weekly Newsletter

Q: What made you decide to write about the Kakai community?

Koivunen: I started writing the book "Kakai Calamity in the Iraqi Disputed Territories" with Hussain Talabani. It was his idea. As he lives in Kurdistan he has seen and heard about the evacuation of the Kakai villages in the Kirkuk governorate.

Q: What are the biggest problems the Kakais are facing today?

Koivunen: The Kakai community is divided into many areas : Kurdistan Autonomous Area and the Disputed Territories in Iraq, in Iran, and in Diaspora. They struggle individually with daily problems. The community lacks mutual strategy to demand their rights. They are target for oppression and assimilation.

Q: Are there any common misunderstandings about the Kakais that you found during your research?

Koivunen: People know very little about the Kakai religion, which leads many to perceive it as something mystical. This has unfortunately fostered prejudices against the Kakai community. I hope the Kakais will consider sharing more about their faith—naturally without revealing any sacred secrets. Historically, the Kakais have been concerned about their security, but they are now safe within the Kurdistan Region.

Q: How do politics in the disputed areas affect the Kakai community?

Koivunen: Unfortunately, the Kakai homelands are situated in the borderlands between Kurdish and Arab territories, an area rich in natural resources that also attracts neighbouring countries and even global superpowers.

Q: What is the main message you want people to learn from your book?

Koivunen: A silent ethnic cleansing is going on in the Kakai home lands. Ancient Kurdish culture and history is in danger to disappear for ever.

Q: What were the biggest challenges you encountered while conducting this research?

Koivunen: The Kakai community is divided which helps their oppressors control them. I was also surprised to see how suspicious Muslim Kurds are about the Kakais. They have different religions but all speak Kurdish and have same cultural traditions. Kakais as well as Yezidis carry Kurdish history and heritage from the ancient times before Islam. I hope Muslim Kurds would respect that and use the possibility to get information about their own history.

Q: What role should local and international actors play in improving their situation?

Koivunen: There has been international silence regarding the ethnic cleansing of Kakai villages that has been ongoing since the ISIS attacks, particularly in the Daquq district. The deportation of the Kakais has not received the same attention as that of the Yazidis, and international media largely ignores their plight. However, the Kakai community itself must take a proactive role. With so many conflicts around the world, the Kakais cannot rely on foreign journalists to investigate their situation on their own initiative.



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