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YEZIDIS DON'T EVEN HAVE THIS EMPRIO
Siranuysh Papyan
Story from Lragir.am News:
http://www.lragir.am/engsrc/interview23620.html
Published: 17:22:48 - 04/10/2011
Interview with Boris Tamoyan, the coordinator of the newly established
Yezidi Youth Council, about the problems of the Yezidi people in
Armenia, from social to civil ones.
Boris, what is the goal of the Yezidi Youth Council? What are the
problems it addresses?
The most important goal of the Council is the establishment of the
civil society among Yezidis. An overview of history shows that the
Yezidis have been here for over 300 years, they participate in all the
important historical events, they participated in the establishment of
the first republic in 1918 and earlier the regiment of 1500 soldiers
led by the Yezidi commander Jangir Agha, fought in almost all the
important battles, including Bash Aparan and Sardarapat. In 1918,
we had a Yezidi member of parliament, Yusuf Bek. In other words,
we want to restore the traditions for us to be the masters of our
land because this is our country too. Besides, we intend to organize
cultural events. We have a good culture and we need to present it.
Besides, there is a need to develop the understanding of importance
among the Yezidi community. The union led by Aziz Tamoyan had done
work but now there is a need to involve young people. The other
organizations, the National Committee of the Yezidis led by Torgom
Khudoyan, the Media Shangal National Yezidi Union led by Amo Sharoyan,
have no content, in fact, and I rule out their existence because
their activities are not in the interests of the Yezidis.
As soon as we are able to solve these problems, progress is inevitable.
Boris, what have the Yezidis done in the past few years to become
part of the civil society?
The problem is that only a handful of Yezidis can be part of the civil
society. Generally, the idea of the civil society is not instilled
in the Yezidi people. If a person does not have elementary education,
how can one explain to this person what a civil society is? In other
words, it is necessary to ensure at least the elementary level of
education to be able to involve them in the masses. If a person has
no education, is not involved in the cultural life, one has no idea of
good life. The Yezidis living in villages hardly come to Yerevan once
a year, they do not attend any events, they only come to see the city.
How can they have another worldview, think about other values?
What do you think, what needs to be changed in the Yezidi people?
A lot needs to be changed, Yezidi girls view themselves separately
among youth. Besides, they do not get vocational education, at best
they finish school, most of them do not finish school because they get
married early, which is a problem too. When they say historically the
Yezidis do not get education (some priests say so), I would like to
remind that in the 14th century the chief priest, the mir of Yezidis,
released a decree from Lal~Rsh in Iraq, declaring an anathema on
those who will prevent the Yezidi people from getting education. In
other words, earlier there was an anathema on education, writing and
literature, later they realized that it is not useful for a small
nation to be illiterate and they changed the decree, and here most
people have just learned about the new decree.
Are there premises for the emergence of a civil society among the
Armenians?
The Armenians, especially young people, are not active. There are
some organizations which are not active. I wish we had a nation state
like my Armenian friends (of course, this is my country too) but I
mean a nation state. I always wonder why they are so cold about their
country. Any government, any government body will change if they see
that the young people are active. It~Rs a shame that our government
is not afraid of young people, whereas in Arab states, in Egypt, six
universities were closed not to allow young people to take to streets,
meanwhile here they don~Rt remember that there are young people. In
other words, in reality young people here are not a force, they are
conformists. In Armenia there are 4000 NGOs, plus initiatives. If at
least half of them work, we will have a good country.
For me, a person is part of the civil society who pursues his or
her rights, when one understands that a lot depends on him in this
country. Everyone must understand that a lot depends on everyone,
and everyone's voice is deciding. This is a civil society to me which
still needs to be established, and now it is in embryo. The Yezidis
don't even have this embryo yet.
Have the social issues of Yezidis been solved?
The creation of our organization intends to address social issues.
Bays'z village in Aragatsots Region has only three households. The
villages are emptying. Let the others draw conclusions about the
reasons. Some Yezidis who are now in Russia and have birth certificate
from here, and now they are free to apply for citizenship here,
are told at the Armenian embassy to Moscow that there is an internal
order not to allow Yezidis and Assyrians to come to Armenia to get
a passport, which already excludes a person, which is an important
issue. Or, in Jrashen village, one of the streets was named after
Gagik Kajoyan who was killed during the war. The mayor of the village
decided to rename the street after Kamo. I didn't know Soviet times
are back, and the Communist revolutionaries are more important than
the soldiers who were killed while defending their home country. We
applied to the president, they said the ministry of defense will deal
with this issue. Moreover, we contacted the minister of education
Armen Ashotyan on Facebook and asked him why the textbooks of history
do not contain information about the Yezidis who participated in
the battle of Sardarapat. The minister said sometimes we forget our
history too. During my military service I said I am a Yezidi and they
asked me where this town is.
How many Yezidis are there in Armenia?
The official information number is 5000 but I don't believe
official information. I think they are many more, because if the
foreign ministry of a country says the Yezidis are not allowed to
get a passport of Armenia, I suppose the Armenians are migrating,
the number of Yezidis is growing, and they do this to keep the balance.
From: Baghdasarian
Siranuysh Papyan
Story from Lragir.am News:
http://www.lragir.am/engsrc/interview23620.html
Published: 17:22:48 - 04/10/2011
Interview with Boris Tamoyan, the coordinator of the newly established
Yezidi Youth Council, about the problems of the Yezidi people in
Armenia, from social to civil ones.
Boris, what is the goal of the Yezidi Youth Council? What are the
problems it addresses?
The most important goal of the Council is the establishment of the
civil society among Yezidis. An overview of history shows that the
Yezidis have been here for over 300 years, they participate in all the
important historical events, they participated in the establishment of
the first republic in 1918 and earlier the regiment of 1500 soldiers
led by the Yezidi commander Jangir Agha, fought in almost all the
important battles, including Bash Aparan and Sardarapat. In 1918,
we had a Yezidi member of parliament, Yusuf Bek. In other words,
we want to restore the traditions for us to be the masters of our
land because this is our country too. Besides, we intend to organize
cultural events. We have a good culture and we need to present it.
Besides, there is a need to develop the understanding of importance
among the Yezidi community. The union led by Aziz Tamoyan had done
work but now there is a need to involve young people. The other
organizations, the National Committee of the Yezidis led by Torgom
Khudoyan, the Media Shangal National Yezidi Union led by Amo Sharoyan,
have no content, in fact, and I rule out their existence because
their activities are not in the interests of the Yezidis.
As soon as we are able to solve these problems, progress is inevitable.
Boris, what have the Yezidis done in the past few years to become
part of the civil society?
The problem is that only a handful of Yezidis can be part of the civil
society. Generally, the idea of the civil society is not instilled
in the Yezidi people. If a person does not have elementary education,
how can one explain to this person what a civil society is? In other
words, it is necessary to ensure at least the elementary level of
education to be able to involve them in the masses. If a person has
no education, is not involved in the cultural life, one has no idea of
good life. The Yezidis living in villages hardly come to Yerevan once
a year, they do not attend any events, they only come to see the city.
How can they have another worldview, think about other values?
What do you think, what needs to be changed in the Yezidi people?
A lot needs to be changed, Yezidi girls view themselves separately
among youth. Besides, they do not get vocational education, at best
they finish school, most of them do not finish school because they get
married early, which is a problem too. When they say historically the
Yezidis do not get education (some priests say so), I would like to
remind that in the 14th century the chief priest, the mir of Yezidis,
released a decree from Lal~Rsh in Iraq, declaring an anathema on
those who will prevent the Yezidi people from getting education. In
other words, earlier there was an anathema on education, writing and
literature, later they realized that it is not useful for a small
nation to be illiterate and they changed the decree, and here most
people have just learned about the new decree.
Are there premises for the emergence of a civil society among the
Armenians?
The Armenians, especially young people, are not active. There are
some organizations which are not active. I wish we had a nation state
like my Armenian friends (of course, this is my country too) but I
mean a nation state. I always wonder why they are so cold about their
country. Any government, any government body will change if they see
that the young people are active. It~Rs a shame that our government
is not afraid of young people, whereas in Arab states, in Egypt, six
universities were closed not to allow young people to take to streets,
meanwhile here they don~Rt remember that there are young people. In
other words, in reality young people here are not a force, they are
conformists. In Armenia there are 4000 NGOs, plus initiatives. If at
least half of them work, we will have a good country.
For me, a person is part of the civil society who pursues his or
her rights, when one understands that a lot depends on him in this
country. Everyone must understand that a lot depends on everyone,
and everyone's voice is deciding. This is a civil society to me which
still needs to be established, and now it is in embryo. The Yezidis
don't even have this embryo yet.
Have the social issues of Yezidis been solved?
The creation of our organization intends to address social issues.
Bays'z village in Aragatsots Region has only three households. The
villages are emptying. Let the others draw conclusions about the
reasons. Some Yezidis who are now in Russia and have birth certificate
from here, and now they are free to apply for citizenship here,
are told at the Armenian embassy to Moscow that there is an internal
order not to allow Yezidis and Assyrians to come to Armenia to get
a passport, which already excludes a person, which is an important
issue. Or, in Jrashen village, one of the streets was named after
Gagik Kajoyan who was killed during the war. The mayor of the village
decided to rename the street after Kamo. I didn't know Soviet times
are back, and the Communist revolutionaries are more important than
the soldiers who were killed while defending their home country. We
applied to the president, they said the ministry of defense will deal
with this issue. Moreover, we contacted the minister of education
Armen Ashotyan on Facebook and asked him why the textbooks of history
do not contain information about the Yezidis who participated in
the battle of Sardarapat. The minister said sometimes we forget our
history too. During my military service I said I am a Yezidi and they
asked me where this town is.
How many Yezidis are there in Armenia?
The official information number is 5000 but I don't believe
official information. I think they are many more, because if the
foreign ministry of a country says the Yezidis are not allowed to
get a passport of Armenia, I suppose the Armenians are migrating,
the number of Yezidis is growing, and they do this to keep the balance.
From: Baghdasarian