Life of Yazidis in Armenia

(Short ethnographic essays on the life and life of Yazidis in Armenia)

The site conducts a series of short introductory articles about the life and lifestyle of the Yazidi community in Armenia. The editors of the site hope that this will attract the attention of ethnographers, scientists, and historians who will study the culture and traditions of the Yazidi people in the Caucasus more deeply.

The Director Cultural Center of the Caucasus Yezidis, Yuri Smoev

Aragatsavan village is in the Aragatsotn region of the Republic of Armenia. A resident of the village Heriknaz Ghanian kindly agreed to tell about the life of Yazidi village Aragatsavan. According to her, this is a mixed Armenian-Yazidi village where 23 Yazidi families live.

According to Heriqnaz, the Aragats village was founded over three centuries ago. At the time of its Foundation, the village was called Alagyaz. In 1948, it was renamed to Aragats, and in 2006 it received its current name Aragatsavan.

Before the independence of the Republic of Armenia, the village had more than 150 Yazidi families, the main settlers from the village of Galto (Yazidi village, which is located in the same region). In the 70s, Aragats became an urban-type settlement. After the administrative reform, the village status was restored in Armenia. The population in the period from 2006 to 2010 reached more than 5,500 families, now there are about 1,500 families left, says Eriknaz Ghasoyan.

Heriknaz noted that social position is secondary, which is in other villages. The main part of the population is engaged in animal husbandry, gardening and agriculture.

There are two schools in the village where Yazidi children study along with Armenian children. But unfortunately, the native language is not taught. After finishing school in the village, a lot of graduates continues their studies to obtain a secondary or higher education in the Armenian language.

Among the intelligentsia of the village, you can celebrate brothers and Aziza Sabri Razmik Aslanian who had higher education and worked in the district Committee of the Armenian SSR, Tital Xudoyan, was the head of the municipality, his wife Nina Xudoyan worked as a therapist at a local hospital, Sergei Polatov head of the Aragats plant for the production of reinforced concrete structures.

The main problem in the village is the lack of drinking water in the village. For many years, the village administration has not been able to solve this problem. Previously, there were no problems with drinking water, since water was distilled to the village using water pipes, but for some reason they were dismantled several years ago. Desperate residents tried various methods to solve this problem, but without success. You must buy drinking water, which is delivered by tank.

The next problem is youth unemployment. The road in the village is in a very poor condition.

The preservation of traditional religion plays an important role in the daily life of the Yazidi community, and the villagers are careful about their culture, customs and traditions. For example, oral speech at home in the native Yazidi language.

Translated by David Babaev