Yezidi School, Alagyaz, Aragatsotn Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2006

As I mentioned in a post last week, there have been reports that new books provided to Yezidi schools in Armenia are being returned because they are written in a language called “Ezdiki” and use Cyrillic. However, the language spoken by Yezidi worldwide is the Kurmanji dialect of Kurdish and is usually written in Latin or Arabic.

“The Yezidi religious and cultural tradition is deeply rooted in Kurdish culture and almost all Yezidi sacred texts are in Kurdish […] The language all Yezidi communities have in common is Kurdish and most consider themselves to be Kurds, although often with some reservations.”

One of the reasons why this has occured is because the 2001 Census identified 40,621 Yezidis and 1,519 Kurds living in Armenia. However, almost every academic and official structure outside of the Republic of Armenia, including in the neighbouring Republic of Georgia recognize Yezidis as non-Moslem Kurmanji-speaking ethnic Kurds.

Yazidis are primarily ethnic Kurds, and most live near Mosul, Iraq with smaller communities in Syria, Turkey, Iran, Georgia and Armenia, and number around 500,000 individuals in total, but estimates vary on their population size, partially due to the Yazidi tradition of secretiveness when asked about one’s confession. Yazidi refugees also live in Europe.

[…]

The Yazidis’ cultural practices are observably Kurdish, and almost all speak Kurmanjî (Northern Kurdish), with the exception of the villages of Baiqa and Bahazane in Northern Iraq, where Arabic is spoken. Kurmanjî is the language of almost all the orally transmitted religious traditions of the Yazidis. Thus, religious origins are somewhat complex.

To make the situation even more complex in Armenia is fact around 33,000 Yezidis were identified as speaking “Yezideren,” something the Government ratified under the European Charter for Regional and National Minority Languages even though it is in fact Kurmanji. This has given ammunition to those people in Armenia who want to define Yezidis as a non-Kurdish ethnic minority on their own.

I covered this situation last in an article for Transitions Online in 2004 and now I’m working on another that should be published by the Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR) in the very near future. Anyway, because of this new article, I attended the opening of a Cultural Center for National Minorities in Armenia on Friday and got another chance to interview more people on this problem.

They were Hasan Tamoyan (Deputy Head of the National Union of Yezidis of Armenia) Knyaz Hassanov (Head of the Kurdish community in Armenia), Hranush Kharatyan (Head of the Department of National Minority & Religious Affairs in the Armenian Government) and Torgom Khudoyan (Deputy Head of the National Committee of Yezidi of Armenia).

I’m including the transcripts of the brief interviews below, but it is worth pointing out one thing. With the exception of Hasan Tamoyan, all were willing to talk to me at the event.

In Tamoyan’s case, however, I had to visit him in his office the following day where he only agreed to start the interview after interrogating me for 30 minutes which also included several threats from taking me to Court to reporting me to the Armenian Government. “As I’ve never experienced the legal system in Armenian that would be quite interesting for me,” I responded.

Anyway, the outcome of the interviews seems clear. Basically, the new textbooks are reportedly being refused by some Yezidi schools — something that UNICEF also confirmed to me on Friday, but adding that this problem was “beyond our remit” — and the division among the Yezidis in Armenia is manifesting itself as a problem in the area of minority language education.

Interestingly, in the proper interview with Tamoyan which I’ll post when I write it up, as a representative of one part of the Yezidi minority, he still maintains that “Ezdiki” or “Yezideren” is not Kurmanji. However, I also met another Yezidi representative who while also maintaining that Yezidis were not Kurds did at least understand that their language was the Kurmanji dialect of Kurdish.

Hasan Tamoyan, Deputy President, National Union of Yezidis, member of the National Minority Council, and Head of Yezidi language programs on Armenian Public Radio.

OK: What is your opinion on the division within the Yezidi? Some Yezidis say they are Kurds while others say they’re not.

HT: This is not something that can be discussed in five minutes. If you really want to find the answer to this question we can meet to discuss this in more detail.

OK: I’ve been working on this issue for eight years and have interviewed many people on both sides of the question from Aziz Tamoyan and Garnik Asatrian to Amarik Sardar so I know what the background to this is. What I want to do now is ask two very specific questions.

HT: I don’t think you know [about the background to this issue], and if you have been touching this issue for eight years is it difficult for you to come and meet with us?

OK: A little as I have a deadline and I’ve met and interviewed Aziz Tamoyan [Hasan Tamoyan’s President] twice before. Besides, there is really only one specific issue that I want to raise with you. That is, there are reports that new textbooks written in “Ezdiki” and Cyrillic are being refused by schools in some Yezidi villages.

HT: I want to repeat that if you really want to find out about this problem you will find the time to come and meet with me.

OK: Is it possible to do this over this weekend?

HT: Tomorrow?

OK: Okay.

 

Knyaz Hassanov, Head of Kurdish Community in Armenia, member of the National Minority Council and Kurdistan Committee.

OK: You’re a Moslem Kurd?

KH: Yes.

OK: But you represent both Moslem Kurds and Yezidis living in Armenia?

KH: Yes.

OK: What is your opinion on the fact that some Yezidis consider themselves [ethnic] Kurds while others do not?

KH: The overwhelming majority consider themselves [ethnic] Kurds. This issue is one of concern to us, but it is not so worrying as the number of Yezidis who do not consider themselves to be Kurds is quite small. All over the world the Yezidis consider themselves to be Kurds, so if 1-2,000 Yezidis [in Armenia] do not consider themselves to be Kurds it’s not significant enough of an issue and it’s also their human right.

OK: I was recently in Tbilisi and spoke to Rostom Atashov, representative of many of the Yezidis in Georgia, and there doesn’t seem to be any such division there. Why is there such a division here [in Armenia]?

KH: Yezidism is a religion and because of this they say that they are from a different nation. However, it’s just a religion.

OK: From speaking to some visiting academics researching Yezidis in Armenia as well as hearing these reports from some [Yezidi] villages, it would appear that some [Yezidi] schools are refusing to accept textbooks supplied by the Armenian Government written in “Ezdiki.” Have you also heard about this?

KH: Not some. There are many such schools. Out of 12 [Yezidi] villages in Aragatsotn, only 1 has accepted these textbooks. The rest are not using them and do not accept them.

OK: I’m right in thinking that these books are written in the Cyrillic script?

KH: The books are in Cyrillic script with some changes.

OK: What about content?

KH: Because I don’t accept those books I have not read them nor do I want to see them again.

OK: I spoke to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) about these books today and they appear not to be concerned because no complaint has been made to them. If they are such a problem why haven’t you raised the issue with them?

KH: Because that side of the Yezidi community in Armenia has applied for these books we have decided to publish our own. Therefore, these books do not concern us. They are not important.

 

Hranush Kharatyan, Head of the Department of National Minority & Religious Affairs in the Armenian Government.

OK: I know that UNICEF and the Armenian Government have prepared a study on National Minority Education. When will the report be ready?

HK: That report is ready and it should be available in electronic format on the Armenian Government web site.

OK: On this matter of education, there have been reports that a number of Yezidi villages are refusing to accept school textbooks written in “Ezdiki” and the Cyrillic script. Have you received any complaints regarding this, and are these reports true?

HK: I haven’t received any complaints, but I have also heard these reports and we are planning to introduce monitoring of the introduction of these books. However, I have also heard other rumors as to who is organizing the refusal of these books.

OK: Who is that?

HK: Charkaze Mstoyan.

OK: So, the Kurdistan Committee?

HK: I think so.

OK: We know that there is a division in the Yezidi community regarding whether they are Kurds or not, but we don’t know how many Yezidis support one side or the other. Isn’t it time for the Armenian Government to closely examine this issue or do you think that there should be no interference?

HK: Our department is already researching this issue, but the Government is convinced that the State should not interfere with regards to the issue of ethnic identity. There are problems within the Yezidi and Kurdish communities and there are problems in every community.

OK: But how do you define the Kurdish community? For example, I’ve been told that many of the 1,519 Kurds identified in the 2001 Census were Moslem Kurds. At the same time, there were Yezidis who identified themselves as such, but who also consider themselves to be ethnic Kurds, included in the 40.621 Yezidis identified in the 2001 Census. Therefore, when you talk of the Kurdish community in Armenia, what exactly do you mean and who are you referring to?

HK: The Census did not use the term Moslem Kurds and people who consider themselves Kurds in Armenia also follow the Yezidi religion. Maybe they feel more Kurdish and it’s their right to do so. When I talk about the Kurdish community I mean first of all the Kurdistan Committee and their supporters or those people who during our research as well as the Census identified themselves as Kurds.

OK: Yet, I was recently in Armavir and went to a Yezidi wedding where there must have been about 300 or 400 [Yezidi] guests. Members of the Kurdistan Committee, including four members of the PKK from Turkey and Syria, were also there. They were singing pro-Kurdistan and pro-Ocalan songs and all of the Yezidis who identify themselves first as Yezidis but also understand their Kurdish roots were dancing quite passionately to this music. When you use the term “Yezidi” doesn’t this ignore the fact that there are Yezidi who identify themselves as such, but who also consider themselves to be Kurds.

HK: That’s their right.

OK: Isn’t the fact that the results of the 2001 Census are being used to prove that these Yezidis are a separate ethnic minority a problem?

HK: Even Armenians sing songs about Ocalan. During the Census people were asked about their ethnicity and they answered either “Yezidi” or “Kurd.” That’s what was counted. I don’t consider it possible to culturally consider someone’s ethnicity.

 

Torgom Khudoyan, Vice-President of National Committee of Yezidi of Armenia.

OK: How long has your organization been in existence for?

TK: Eight years.

OK: And where do most of the Yezidis you represent live?

TK: In Aragatsotn and Armavir regions as well as Artashat and other places.

OK: Which villages in the Aragatsotn region? Alagyaz, Riya Taza…

TK: Alagyaz is a little Kurdish-orientated, but these are also our people and our nation. They explain that their religion is Yezidi, but their ethnicity is Kurdish. We say our religion is Yezidi by religion, but we are also Yezidi by ethnicity. However, we are same nation.

OK: And what do you say about language?

TK: It’s the same language.

OK: It’s Kurmanji Kurdish?

TK: It’s the same language.

OK: What about the issue of school textbooks written in “Ezidiki,” which most people consider to be Kurmanji, and the fact that it’s written in Cyrillic script? Are you happy about that?

TK: Aziz Tamoyan did this for money. It’s a shame. It’s a shame. It’s a shame.

OK: So what is your organization going to do about it? Are you concerned that there are now [Yezidi] schools without new textbooks because of this?

TK: These books are a shame and we don’t want to have this rubbish.

OK: So what script do you believe Kurmanji should be written in?

TK: Latin. It’s easier to express in Latin. However, we publish a newspaper, Lalish, once a month in Armenian.

OK: Do you have links with Yezidis in Georgia?

TK: No, but they used to call themselves Kurds until Ocalan was captured and now they call themselves Yezidis.

OK: When I spoke to Yezidis in Georgia they said they have very close links with the Regional Government in Iraqi Kurdistan. Given that the Yezidi spiritual center is in Lalish, do you also have links?

TK: No, but we have links with Yezidis there.

Other interviews on this division among Yezidis in Armenia conducted between 1998 and 2004 can be found here.

Incidently, as part of the research for the new article I also contacted the Yerevan office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to raise the specific issue of textbooks being refused by Yezidi schools. This was the response from Silvia Pogolsa, the organization’s Human Rights Officer who also monitors the situation regarding Armenia’s ethnic minorities.

The OSCE Office in Yerevan is following the situation with the national minorities based on its mandate–implementation of OSCE committments and promotion of OSCE values in Armenia. The basic document in this respect is the Helsinki Final Act that obliges the OSCE participating States to respect rights of national minorities. Our observations show that Armenia as a state holds a tolerant position towards national minorities. The existing legislation ensures that the rights of national minorities are protected. Besides, our close contacts and co-operation with respective state institutions and civil society supports that position.

With regarding to the problem of identity of Kurds and Yezidis in Armenia, I should refer this rather to the academicians or state representatives, since it seems to be a problem between two ethnic groups, rather than between the State (Armenia) and a national minority. As mentioned before, we are following the situation from the point of view of the State respecting national minority rights, therefore it is beyond our mandate.

Accepting and following the cases of individual human rights complaints is another mechanism to follow the general human rights situation in Armenia. It refers to all kinds of human rights violations, including national minority. However, we have never been approached with that kind of individual complaint.

And to answer your last question, in 2002 our Office supported publication on ethnic minorities in Armenia, which provides basic information on the types of ethnic minorities inhabiting in Armenia. If you are interested, a hard copy in English is available in our Office.

However, Christine Allison, a prominent Kurdologist at the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales in Paris, responds to the OSCE answer as follows.

How can it be a problem between ‘two ethnic groups’ if one side thinks they are one ethnic group? And anyway the problem is, as so many people say there, whether people consider ‘Yezidi’ to be an ethnicity or a religion. For Armenians the two go together but not for Kurds.

Yezidi School, Barozh, Aragatsotn Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2005