Now that the post-election situation is dying down, I’m starting to pitch story ideas to various regional, international and Diaspora-based publications. Of course, I’m also interested in finding other outlets for my work as well, especially as interest in Armenia still remains quite small. Nevertheless, there are a few key areas which I want to focus on now and I’m interested in commissions for writing or photojournalist work in Armenia, Georgia and Turkey. Until then, it’s probably worth highlighting some of the work that has been published in the last two years.

First up is a continuation of my work on Yezidis and Kurds in Armenia and Turkey, and specifically the continuing division within the former community here. Although considered by most ethnologists to be ethnic Kurds, Armenia’s small Yezidi community is riven by debate over their origin. Even so, as I wrote for Geographical, the community is of specific interest to academics the world over.

Nestled at the foot of Mount Aragats, Armenia’s highest peak, the villages of Riya Taza and Alagyaz hardly merit more than a passing glance from motorists heading north towards the border with Georgia. Elderly women dressed in colourful garb nonetheless line the road, while children play nearby among rusting abandoned vehicles and farmers herd their cattle in the surrounding pastures. Few stop at the makeshift shacks selling basic groceries and provisions on the roadside. In fact, nobody pays much attention at all.

But for academics from as far away as the UK, France, Germany and Japan, these small, impoverished villages are a dream come true. Located 60 kilometres from Yerevan, the Armenian capital, Riya Taza, Alagyaz and other villages interconnected by pockmarked roads are home to one of the biggest concentrations of Yezidis in the country.

[…]

What makes the Yezidis so interesting to the academic community is the fact that they are considered to be ethnic Kurds who resisted pressure to convert to Islam. Speaking Kurmanji, the dialect of Kurdish spoken in Turkey, Armenia’s Yezidis are considered by many Kurdologists to represent the purest form of Kurdish culture in the region.

The full post is available on The Caucasus Knot.