Yazidis in Armenia are a subgroup of Yazidis settled in Armenia, where they form the largest minority group. They are recognized as a distinct ethnic group in Armenia and are well integrated into the Armenian society, with freedom of religion and non-interference in their cultural traditions.
The Yezidi movement erupting in Armenia in 1988 appealed to the 3rd All-Armenian Yezidi Assembly convened on 30 September 1989 to challenge the Government for the official recognition of their identity. As a result, the Yezidis were presented as a separate minority in the USSR population census of 1989. According to this very census, the total count of Yezidis in Armenia was 52,700. Also need to note that in Karabakh war participated more than 500 yezidis by ethnicity, they have a detachment "Jangir Agha" headed by Aziz Tamoyan. Many Yezidis volunteered during the Karabakh conflict to fight on the Armenian side.
Present situation
Demographics
According to the 2011 census, there are 35,272 Yazidis in Armenia. Ten years earlier, in the 2001 census, 40,620 Yazidis were registered in Armenia. Media have estimated the number of Yazidis in Armenia as between 30,000 and 50,000. Most of them are descendants of refugees to Armenia following the persecution during Ottoman rule, including during the Armenian Genocide, when many Armenians found refuge in Yazidi villages. A minority of Yazidis in Armenia converted to Christianity, but they are not accepted by the other Yazidis as Yazidis.
Age structure
Ethnic Yazidis have a slightly younger population compared to ethnic Armenians. Almost 54 percent is under thirty years old, while 8 percent is aged sixty or more.
Political rights
Election Code of Armenia guarantees one seat in the National Assembly to Yazid minority.
Memorials and religious sites
In 2016 a memorial for fallen Yazids is installed in Yerevan downtown in the park at the crossing of Isahakyan and Nalbandyan streets. As of 2016, the world's largest Yazidi temple is under construction in the small village of Aknalich.
Foreign evaluations of Yazid rights
US reports on the relations between Yazidis and the Armenian government have been mixed. According to a 2004 U.S. Department of Statehuman rights report, Yazidis are subjected to some harassment in Armenia. Attendance school rates among children in the Yezidi ethnic minority continued to be lower than average, partially due to economic reasons, a lack of Yezidi teachers and books, and the early removal of teenage girls from schools for marriage. In 2006 the UN Children's Fund supported the government's effort to publish textbooks for ethnic minorities, and in 2007 new Yezidi language textbooks appeared in some Yezidi schools around the country. The textbooks are Aziz. and Hasan Shex Mamude. Also through Armenian government support a first Yezidi newspaper was published named Ezdikhana. According to a 2007 U.S. Department of State human rights report, "As in previous years, Yezidi leaders did not complain that police and local authorities subjected their community to discrimination".
Distribution
There are 22 rural settlements in Armenia with Yazidi majority. The biggest Yazidi village in Armenia is Verin Artashat in Ararat Province with 4,270 residents.
There are two Yazidi villages in Armavir Province: Yeraskhahun and Ferik, both in Ejmiatsin district. On 29 September 2012 Yazidis opened their first temple outside their Lalish homeland - the temple of "Ziarat" in Aknalich village in Armavir province of Armenia. In August 2015 an architectural design for a new temple in Aknalich was released; the temple is planned to be completed in 2017. This temple, the world's largest Yazidi temple, was built nex to the Ziarat temple and has been finally opened in September 2019, under the name "Quba Mere Diwane".
Ararat Province
The only Yazidi village is Verin Artashat, near Artashat.
