Country: Armenia

Group: Yazidi

Date Finalized:

Team: Johanna McCombs (lead), Leilani Alva, Maya Shrikant

Content Warning: ethnocide, genocide, homicide, racism

Approximate Time Period: 1800-present

In Armenia there are around 30,000 to 50,000 Yazidi people, which makes them the largest minority in the country (Chappel and Heil, 2019). Many of these people are ancestors of refugees of the mass killing and persecution done by the Ottoman Empire in the 1800s, and more recently refugees of the mass killing and enslavement done by the Islamic State in 2014 (Chappel and Heil, 2019). In 2001 the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe met to amend the Armenian constitution to follow the European Convention on the Protection of National Minorities, which made little to no impact on the minorities of Armenia in terms of equal opportunities (McIntosh, 2003). In 2002, Armenia reported to the U.N Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination that Armenia was “mono-ethnic” ignoring over three percent of the population including the Yazidi (McIntosh, 2003). Although most of the Yazidi do not identify as Kurdish the ones that do are mocked and shut down in meetings regarding minorities. They are secluded, not protected by the law, have a lack of healthcare and have no representation in government (McIntosh, 2003). Though relations seem amicable in Armenia evaluations, US human rights reports say that Yazidi peoples are subjected to multiple forms of harassment in Armenia—including declining school attendance, economic repression, lack of representation and access in education sectors, and child marriages (Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, 2003).

Data Quality: 2 All the sources have similar information, but some are personal reports, and government documents mostly ignore the Yazidi.

Sources

  1. McIntosch Ian (2003). A Conditional Coexistence:Yezidi in Armenia. Retrieved April 18, 2020, from https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/conditional-Coexistenceyezidi-armenia
  2. Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (2003). Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Armenia”. https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2004/41668.htm
  3. Chappel, Amos & Heil, Andy (2019). Proud As A Peacock: Armenia’s New Yazidi Temple Draws Attention And Awe. RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved April 18, 2020, from https://www.rferl.org/a/armenia-yazidi-temple/30197592.html