ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – For the first time in history, a Yezidi woman has enrolled in aviation studies in Germany as she dreams of flying planes over Kurdistan.

Hanan Ali Saydo, 24, a Yezidi woman from Siyba Sheikh Khidir in Shingal has finished high school and now is focused on her aviation studies.

Saydo has been living in Germany with her family for four years. She told Rudaw that she has “loved aviation since her childhood. But in Iraq there was not such opportunity to study it. After we migrated to Germany, I began studying in aviation and now I am in my second year."

Believing that she "has reached her goals" Saydo said she will “become a pilot in 2018 and fly in the sky. And in 2019, I will be able to work with companies.”

Her dream for her future is to return to Kurdistan and "fly in the air of my country."

“Proudly, I am studying as a Yezidi Kurdish girl,” she said. “After my studies, if possible, I would like to return and serve Kurdistan.”

Saydo’s success is an inspiration to her fellow Yezidi women who have suffered extreme tragedy after thousands of Yezidi woman and girls were taken captive by the radical group of the Islamic State in August 2014, treating them as sex slaves and war trophies.

“We are taking pride in the studies of this Kurdish woman, because this is the first time a Yezidi woman is majoring in aviation, especially at the critical time now when the Yezidis face such heartbreaking calamity,” Suzan Safar, head of the DAK Organization for Yezidi Women’s Development, told Rudaw.

Safar added that there are many other Yezidi women who have studied and obtained certificates in other programs, “but Hanan’s studies majoring in aviation are unprecedented.”

Two other Kurdish women, not Yezidis, have also studied aviation, Rudaw found.

Warte Abu Bakir Ali, 25, from a well-known family from Sulaimani is living in Denmark. Last year she successfully received her certificate in civil aviation.

And Shene Aziz, living in Denmark, is now focused on her aviation studies, too.

If these women hope to fly for a Kurdish company, it may take some time for their dreams to come true.

“There is not a particular Kurdish air company,” explained Hazhar Wishiyar, who owns a travel company. “There is only an Iraqi airline in Iraq. But, if Kurds have an airline company in the future, it could definitely take advantage of these Kurdish women pilots.”

Engineer Tahir Abdullah, the general manager of Sulaimani Airport, described the aviation studies of these three Kurdish pilots as “crucial” for the future of Kurdistan.

“The studies of these three Kurdish women pilots are crucial for Kurdistan’s aviation sectors in the future. More importantly, is the establishment of a Kurdistan airline by the KRG [Kurdistan Regional Government] or the private sector.”