Sevak Karamyan1

1 Muslim Populations

The National Statistical Service of the Republic of Armenia has never con- ducted a census of in Armenia. However, the last census that took place from 12 to 21 October 2011 included an optional question concerning denomination, only for those who are permanent residents of Armenia.2 The list of answers on religion, church or denomination also included a category “Muslim.”3 The result of this census will be published only in the second quarter of 2013.4 The 2001 census5 included a question on ethnicity according to which there were small numbers of traditionally Muslim ethnic groups, more specifically, 29 ,6 123 Tatars, 158 Ingushes, 322 Abazines, 326 Persians (Iranians), and 1,519 . This total of 2,477 people7 consti- tuted 0.08% of the population.8 According to various research publications, as well as the information provided by non-governmental organisations, the number of in Armenia is about 8,000 and 80% of them are resident non-citizens who stay in Armenia for extended periods of time.

1 Dr Sevak Karamyan is an Expert of the Group of Independent Experts of The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of . 2 www.armstat.am/file/doc/99465273.pdf, accessed 20 November 2012. 3 Ibid. 4 http://armstat.am/file/doc/99471368.pdf, accessed 24 December 2012. 5 www.armstat.am/en/?nid=52, accessed 24 December 2012. 6 But according to specialists, the number of Azerbaijanis is probably higher, and it is possible that during the census many of them hid their Azerbaijani origins. For example, according to H. Kharatyan, Head of the Chair of Inter-Cultural Communication at State Linguistic University after V. Brusov, there are about 120 . 7 Mkrtumyan, Y., H. Sargsyan and A. Tadevosyan (eds), Հայաստանի Հանրապետու­ թյան ազգային փոքրամասնությունները քաղաքացիական հասրակաության կայացման արդի պայմաններում (National Minorities of the Republic of Armenia in the Present Conditions of Formation of Civic Society), vol. 2 (Yerevan: National Acad- emy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, Gitutyun Publishing, 2005), pp. 220–221 (in Armenian). 8 According to the 2001 census, the population of Armenia was 3,210,000. According to the Statistical Yearbook of 2012, it has increased to 3,274,300; www.armstat.am/file/ doc/99471433.pdf, accessed 24 December 2012. 38 sevak karamyan

The majority of Muslims are from , others come from elsewhere in the Middle East and India and most are businessmen, students and diplomats. The ratio of Shi’is to Sunnis is about 3:1. There is some contradictory information concerning Kurds in Arme- nia. There are more than 60,000 Kurdish-speaking people, but the major- ity of this group identify themselves as Yezidis,9 who detach themselves from in terms of religion and from the Kurds in terms of ethnicity.10 Their language is , a Northern Kurdish dialect, although Yezidis call their language Ezdiki in order to underscore their separate identity. It should be mentioned that some Yezidis identify themselves as Kurds or Yezidi-Kurds on the basis of language, traditions and customs.11 Accord- ing to the Head of the Kurdish National Council of Armenia, K. Hasanov, there are about 300 Kurds in Armenia who do not have a strong religious identity, and who are distinguished from mainly by the fact that they do not eat pork. Other sources give the number of Muslim Kurds in Armenia as about 1,000.12 Islam reached the territory of today’s Armenia shortly after the foun- dation of the religion. The first Arab invasion of Armenia took place in 640 CE and thereafter Armenia was under Arab rule for more than 200 years. In the second half of the 9th century the Armenians succeeded in overthrowing Arab rule and restoring independence which lasted till the beginning of the 11th century. From the mid-11th century Armenia underwent a number of invasions by the Seljuk Turks who, until the first half of the 12th century, kept Armenia under their control. As a result of Armenian-Georgian military cooperation, most Armenian territories were liberated from the Seljuk Turks. In 1236, a major military incursion of Mongols took place after which Armenia remained under Mongol rule for almost two centuries. Throughout the 15th century Armenia was under the rule of two Turkoman tribes, the Ak Koyunlu or (the

9 An ethno-confessional group, whose main identity is religion—Yezidism or Sharfa- din. Yezidism is a syncretic doctrine which combines the in the One with the veneration of a Holy Trinity—Malak Tawus (Peacock angel), Shaykh ‘Adi and Sultan Yezid (all being incarnations of God), as well as an extensive popular pantheon that includes a number of divinities, saints and patron- having parallels with both Iranian and Semitic traditions. 10 Asatryan, G. and V. Arakelova, The Ethnic Minorities of Armenia (Yerevan: Cauca- sian Centre for Iranian Studies 2004), p. 10. Also available at www.hra.am/file/minorities_ en.pdf. 11 Sardar, A., Քրդերը Հայաստանում (Kurds in Armenia) (Yerevan: Hayastan Press 1996), p. 59 (in Armenian). 12 Asatryan and Arakelova, Ethnic Minorities, p. 14.