Armenian UN Association

Kurdish Minority Study in ,

Yerevan 2016 The study was conducted by the Armenian UN Association team.

Research Coordinator: Armine Podosyan Analyst: Naira Baghdasaryan Advisor/Editor: Hrachia Kazhoyan Data Collectors: Seda Melikyan Mariam Mkhitarian Anna Khachatryan Jenya Amiryan

The project was implemented by the United Nations Association of Armenia in partnership with the United Nations Association of Sweden and financial assistance of Forum Syd/ Sida.

Armenian UN Association Address: 24 Moskovyan str., 4A 0002 Yerevan, Armenia Phone: +374 (10) 565 595 E-mail: [email protected]

Visit us at www.auna.am Foreword and acknowledgement Throughout the years, the issues of integration of ethnic minorities have been challenging for the states and societies. In many cases, the integration has been facilitated through the intensive work of the civil society organisations and governmental agencies. In winter 2015, the Kurdistan Committee (KC) NGO approached the Armenian UN Association (AUNA) with a request to explore the needs of Kurds living in Armenia. The lack of up-to-date literature and information about the topic has made AUNA propose a feasibility study to collect evidence for possible intervention in support of the integration of Kurdish minority. It was assumed that the study would shed light on the spheres where the potential intervention would most likely provide better integration of the minority group. To conduct the research, AUNA received financial support from Forum Syd/Sida through the UN Association of Sweden. The project started in September 2015 and was completed in January 2016. Overall, the present work is an exploratory study, as a result of which we argue that there is a room for better integration of Kurdish minority in the Republic of Armenia (RA). The study had two objectives. Firstly, the data gathered throughout the research were to portray the development needs and gaps in integration of Kurdish minority in Armenia. Secondly, the study aimed to depict the possibility and essence of the ways to invest in the enhanced integration of the ethnic minority. Setting out from the above-mentioned objectives, the work applied to the qualitative research methods. Namely, the data were gathered through in-depth interviews with the Kurdish minority representatives registered in the lists of KC as Kurds. In addition, in-depth interviews were conducted also with the heads of the communities of the mono-ethnic villages in Aragatsotn region populated mainly by the targeted ethnic group. The research also comprised in-depth interviews with the experts of the field and a focus group discussion engaging the key informants dealing with the issues of the ethnic minorities in Armenia (including representatives

3 of the state and non-state bodies). The analysis of the data illustrates the perceived, expressed and relative needs of the targeted ethnic minority. The findings justify the recommendations to meet the integration needs of the Kurdish minority representatives living in Armenia. We would like to express our deepest gratitude to Hranush Kharatyan, a well-known ethnographer, who specializes in Caucasus Studies, minority groups and Armenian studies, Gayane Shagoyan, Senior Researcher at the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, for their continuous support and invaluable contribution to the study. We are grateful to the representatives of government, international and local organizations for their participation in the study. Special thanks to Jenya Amiryan, the head of the Kurdistan Committee NGO for collaboration. The greatest appreciation is reserved for every participant in this study and experts who provided valuable information during the in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. We are thankful to the United Nations Association of Sweden, Forum Syd/ Sida for the encouragement and support that enabled us to conduct this study.

Armine Podosyan President of the Armenian UN Association

Yerevan, January 2016

4 Contents Foreword and acknowledgement ...... 3 List of Acronyms ...... 6 Executive summary ...... 7 Introduction ...... 10 Ethnic minority groups in Armenia ...... 15 Methods...... 20 Purpose ...... 21 Research questions ...... 21 Gender Considerations ...... 24 Study Participants ...... 24 Research Instruments ...... 25 In-depth interviews ...... 25 Focus group ...... 25 Proceedings ...... 25 Focus group ...... 26 Data Management ...... 26 Analysis ...... 26 Ethical Considerations ...... 27 Strengths and Limitations of the Method ...... 27 Strengths ...... 27 Limitations ...... 27 Findings ...... 28 Identity issues ...... 28 Existing needs of Kurdish and Yezidi minorities ...... 30 Opportunities and obstacles for integration ...... 33 Socioeconomic opportunities and discrimination ...... 34 Education and Culture ...... 37 Media ...... 41 Public Participation ...... 42 Conclusion and Recommendations: Possible solutions and steps for better integration ...... 47 Bibliography ...... 52 Laws ...... 54 Online references ...... 55 Appendices ...... 56 Appendix 1. Research Tools ...... 56 Appendix 2. Ethnic composition of RA...... 67 Appendix 3. Laws ensuring inclusive approach ...... 68 5 List of Acronyms

AUNA United Nations Association of Armenia

ECRI European Commission against Racism and Intolerance

FG Focus group discussion

GoA Government of Armenia

INGO International nongovernmental organization

KC Kurdistan Committee NGO

MP Member of Parliament (National Assembly) of Armenia

NGO Nongovernmental organization

RA Republic of Armenia

UN United Nations Organisation

US United States of America

6 Executive summary Over the centuries, the developments in the world history have resulted in the creation of many multi-ethnic states. The scholars designed the models of integration of ethnic minorities based on the observations of historical trends and various cases that can be grouped into three ways of coexistence: assimilation, melting pot and cultural pluralism. There are more than twelve national minority groups in Armenia, and the Kurdish ethnic group has 2,162 members.1 The largest ethnic minority living in Armenia are the Yezidis. Yezidi and Kurdish identities are related to each other. However, it should be mentioned that due to political, historical conditions most of the Kurds living in Armenia started to identify themselves as Yezidis and follow Yezidism.2 Both minorities are using the same language with different alphabets: Kurds are using Latin letters when Yezidis apply to Cyrillic alphabet. The shift of Kurd- Yezidi identity may be conditioned by the insights of leaders, authorities of ethnic leaders.3 This study aimed to determine the development needs of the Kurdish minority living in Aragatsotn marz (region) of Armenia. In addition, the study attempts to establish the frames and ways of possible actions to meet the needs of targeted minority. The research attempt to answer two main questions: 1. What is the justification behind the need to conduct the research exploring the impediments towards better integration4 of Kurdish and Yezidi minorities living in Aragatsotn region? 2. What evidence is there that the Kurdish and Yezidi minorities needs further intervention for better social, economic and political engagement? This study employed directed content analysis in a cross sectional design. The cross sectional design relayed on in-depth interviews and 1 Ethnic composition of RA requested from the RA government by writ #ÄÊ-º-0340|15 2 Mark Yoffe, US Embassy Policy Specialist Program (EPS) Research Report, Yerevan, Armenia Dates: September 10, 2007 – October 10, 2007, https://www.irex.org/sites/default/fi les/ Yoffe%20Research%20Report.pdf accessed 15.01.2016 3 Ibid. 4 By integration, we mean their involvement in the democratic development processes of Armenia. In particular, the latter refers to their social, economic, political and cultural engagement in Armenia. 7 focus group discussion using a semi-structured approach. Two groups of participants contributed their narratives to address the primary aims of the study. In-depth interviews with members of Kurdish and Yezidi minorities and a focus group discussion with representatives of organizations who work with the ethnic minorities provided the data for this project. The group of respondents was comprised of three sub- groups: the young members of Kurdish and Yezidi minorities aged 18-25, the local community leaders, and ethnic minority experts. Directed content analysis allowed for confirmation of the concepts in data analysis, which are: current state and legal leverage, obstacles hindering the socialisation, participation in the social life, opportunities to improve the situation. The fieldwork was conducted from September 2015 to November 2015. After data collection, AUNA team analysed the transcripts of in-depth interview and the focus group, using a codebook developed according to the guide proposed by the European Parliament.5 One of the main limitations of this study was related to the low education attainment of the representatives of Kurdish and Yezidi minorities. It reflected on their limited skills for explaining themselves that, in its turn, resulted in saturation of the data gathered during the in- depth interviews. The main issues identified and the recommended ways to address them could be summarised as follows. In this study, we came to realise that there is a room for better integration of the Kurdish and Yezidi minorities in the development processes in Armenia. For a long time, both governmental and nongovernmental actors have been taking actions towards the integration of the targeted minority. The state has done much for their integration also in terms of the legal environment that would need further enhancement. To this end, it is important to enact the anti-discrimination law currently being drafted. However, there are external social-cultural processes and internal leaders of the communities with their own agenda that are trying to influence on the identity.6 5 European Center for Minority Issues, Minority Issues Mainstreaming in the South Caucasus. Practical Guide.: Council of Europe, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tbilisi, 2011, p. 9, http://goo.gl/o1dA0x accessed 14.10.2015 accessed 18.11.12 6 Mark Yoffe, “The opinions, recommendations, and conclusions of the grantee are his/her own and do not necessarily refl ect the views or policies of IREX or the US Department of State”, US Embassy Policy Specialist Program (EPS) Research Report, Yerevan, Armenia Dates: September 10, 2007 – October 10, 2007, https://www.irex.org/sites/default/fi les/Yoffe%20Research%20 Report.pdf accessed 15.01.2016 8 As regards the identity issue, the intervention should transcend from Kurdish and Yezidi identity related discrepancies and be more focused on the ways of meeting their needs. The action steps should not affect their ethnic identity related issues. We concluded that the political and civic activism of the Kurdish and Yezidi minorities respondents was in its inchoate phase. It may be conditioned by low awareness on human rights and education. Therefore, the awareness raising activities may upgrade their civic-political engagement upon their career aspirations and perceptions about the work of local governments. The activities should be oriented on individuals carefully selected among the representatives of targeted minority. In terms of economic opportunities, almost all respondents said they would want to have a decent job, or get some vocational skills in hairdressing or cosmetology, driving, tailoring. Thus, the vocational trainings might be considered the way to support the economic integration of the Kurdish and Yezidi minorities. However, the implication of vocational trainings in Aragatsotn region was considered not to be successful taking into account the early marriages and ranching. One of the key issues among the representatives of targeted ethnic minority is poor education, as a result of dropouts from schools. The general recommendation would be the inclusion of Kurdish and Yezidi languages in the schools of Kotayq region, which have Kurdish and Yezidi students. The study explored an imperative to launch a kindergarten or corresponding preschool classes for the targeted ethnic minority in the rural communities of Aragatsotn. The latter requires intense cooperation with the local community leaders of the consequent rural communities. The cultural, and, in particular, linguistic issues are almost solved, as RA is a signatory to the corresponding international convention, both Yezidis and Kurds are getting subsidies for their printing media and radio, and there are translators in the courts. The state finances the development of the textbooks both in Yezidi and in Kurdish languages, while in other countries usually the communities are gathering money for that. The Government of Armenia (GoA) is financing the education of Kurdish and Yezidi teachers. However, many of the graduates are not going back to their communities. Therefore, effective retention strategies and policies both at the national and local levels should be introduced. In addition, the main issue reportedly put forward by the ethnic group representatives living in the mixed villages, 9 pertains to the opening of Kurdish and Yezidi schools or adding lessons in Kurdish and in Yezidi in the main curriculum. However, the corresponding steps may be followed if there is sufficient number of students belonging to the targeted ethnic minority for opening the classes. Capacity-building activities were required for NGOs of the targeted ethnic groups. Upon establishing working links with their NGOs and local governance bodies, the possible scenarios of intervention may be discussed (based on the revealed needs). For the further studies in the field, it would be useful to conduct in- depth interviews with other ethnic minorities living in Armenia to have a comparative depiction of the similar needs. Moreover, it will be useful to conduct a wider and thorough time series study to cover social, political and cultural realms of the issue. Particularly, this refers to another research after the accomplishments of the community consolidation processes and the Constitutional reform with some priorities for the minority representatives. That includes provision of places in the parliament for the ethnic minority representatives.7 As the onset, we reviewed of the available literature that illustrates the theories referring to the integration of ethnic minorities and studied the state of Kurds in the world in general and in the South Caucasus and in Armenia in specific. It is followed by the methodology and findings. The research is culminating in the conclusion and recommendations for further studies and interventions. Introduction Over the centuries, the developments in the world history have resulted in the creation of many multi-ethnic states existing nowadays. The subsistence of different ethnic groups in one state cannot but advance the issues of integration and design of concurrent public policy for each particular case. In line with that, the world politics and world history illustrate several cases when the individual or a group has become the subject of discrimination due to their ethnic belonging. To that end, the definition and evolution of the terms like “ethnicity”,

7 Artak Galyan, “Gearing towards Consensualism or Unrestrained Majoritarianism? Constitutional Reform in Armenia and its Comparative Implications”, CONSTITUTIONNET, (2015) http://www.constitutionnet.org/news/gearing-towards-consensualism-or-unrestrained- majoritarianism-constitutional-reform-armenia-and accessed 25.11.2015 1100 “integration” may be useful for the comprehensive picture of the subject matter of the current study. As Ursula Apitzsch mentions in her article “Ethnicity and Belonging as Experienced Dimensions in Mixed Marriages”, Aristotle was describing ethnos as “native citizens of Athens” while others were called “demos”.8 It may be assumed that, currently the perceptions of ‘ethnos’ and ‘demos” have been shifted in popular mind-set. Say, the ethnic groups are mostly assumed as others in the society and the “the autochthonous population does not think of itself as an ethnic group”.9 According to Joseph Rudolph, the ethnic groups “…identify themselves or are identified by others in cultural terms, such as language, religion, tribe, nationality, and possibly race”.10 Moreover, the groups may be recognized by themselves or by others.11 Additionally, the article by Joseph E. Trimble and Ryan Dickson refers to Yuet Cheung’s interpretation of the ethnic identity as a “the psychological attachment to an ethnic group or heritage”.12 There are three main theories explaining the concept “ethnicity” in the relevant literature. As such, the primordial theory focuses on the roots and the length of existence of the ethnic identity. Meanwhile, the instrumental theory approaches the ethnic identity as means to reach some personal goals. The latter is mainly led by some political figures marshalling people around ethnic grievances to reach their political aspirations. Unlike them, the constructivists explain ethnicity departing from its ability to adapt to the different political, economic, historical circumstances.13 They “treat ethnicity as evolving concept” which “over time and space, economic political and religious structures, emerges with specific configurations that may be labelled ethnic”.14 The constructivist approach invests in exploring the linkage and overlap between the ethnicity and the public policy. Therefore, theoretically the study mainly refers to constructivism to describe, explain and predict the corresponding reality.

8 Ursula Apitzsch, EranGündüz, “Ethnicity and Belonging as Experienced Dimensions in Mixed Marriages” Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität, 2012, p. 81 http://goo.gl/LuuG4K accessed 14.11.15 9 Ibid. 10 Joseph Rudolph, “Politics and Ethnicity. A Comparative Study Perspectives in Comparative Politics’’, (2006) Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN13:978-1-4039-6233-1, p. 2. 11 Ibid. 12 Ibid., para 3. 13 Joseph Rudolph, “Politics and Ethnicity. A Comparative Study Perspectives in Comparative Politics’’, (2006) Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN13:978-1-4039-6233-1 14 Ibid., p. 5. 11 Practically, in the current world, some ethnicities have formed minority ethnic groups. As cited in the practical guide by the European Parliament “an ethnic minority is a group in which membership is based on long- lasting associations of kinship, common culture, and on traditional attachment to a particular territory of the state but which has no statehood of its own elsewhere. A national minority is a group in which membership is based on nationalism, equalling to “the sentiment and ideology of attachment to a nation, its interests and its territory existing as a state elsewhere.”15 In this research, we refer to the ethnic minorities and their level of integration in the societies. The scholars designed the models of integration of ethnic minorities based on the observations of historical trends and various cases. The first model is titled assimilation. It happens when the minority groups are changing their language, values and other cultural markers and adopting the ones of the majority. The next model is called ‘melting pot’.16 It occurs in the societies where the values of minorities are being intermingled with the majority ones. As a result, they create an evolving culture. In other words, “they adapt to the wider social environments, in which they find themselves”.17 The third model is named cultural pluralism, which is the foundation of multiculturalism. In these societies, the ethnic minority groups are equally treated with the majority groups on economic, socio political or other realms. However, they are given opportunities and full rights to preserve their culture and ethnicity.18 To study the integration of the ethnic minorities in a more comprehensive way, the practical guide by the European Centre for Minority Issues put forward the following indicators to take into account during the analysis:  Identity and Language  Equal socioeconomic opportunities and discrimination  Participation in public life  Education and Culture  Media 19 15 European Center for Minority Issues, Minority Issues Mainstreaming in the South Caucasus. Practical Guide.: Council of Europe, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tbilisi, 2011, p. 9 http://goo.gl/o1dA0x accessed 14.10.2015accessed 18.11.12 16 Anthony Giddens; Simon Griffi ths, “Sociology”, Polity Press, (2006) Cambridge, UK, ISBN: 0745633781 9780745633787 074563379X 9780745633794 17 Ibid, p. 497. 18 Ibid. 19 European Centre for Minority Issues, Minority Issues Mainstreaming in the South Caucasus. Practical Guide.: Council of Europe, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, (2011) Tbilisi, p. 9, http://goo.gl/o1dA0x accessed 14.10.2015 1122 The analysis of the data of the present study tried to cover these themes and check how they are perceived by the ethnic minority representatives and by the experts and organizations dealing with the minority issues. As it is mentioned above, the ethnic minorities are supposed to be fragile in a sense of discrimination. To prevent any discriminatory attitude towards the minorities, the minority rights have become important parts of various universal and international documents. For instance, UN member states adopted a declaration on the Rights of persons belonging to the National or Ethnic, Religious or Linguistic Minorities”.20 It is difficult to find complete data on the number of ethnic minorities existing in the world. According to the UN Guide for minorities, nearly 10 to 20 % of the world population consists of the minorities (national or ethnic, religious or linguistic).21 Among all ethnic minorities, the largest stateless ethnic group is the Kurdish one. The overall number of Kurds is not available. Approximately, some statistics indicate about thirty-forty million Kurds living mainly in Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq, former Soviet Union countries, Europe, and there are data on more Kurds covering all over the world.22 The roots of their language are not discovered fully. However, it is close to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language. Kurdish language has four main dialects: Kurmanji, Luri, Sorani, and Zaza. Each of them has its sub dialects.23 They are mostly Sunni Muslims. However, according to the article by Tuija Saarinen, “Some Kurds are Shia Muslims, and some are Christians, Jews or Alevi Kurds. A small minority of the Kurds are Yezidis that blends elements of the ancient religion of Persia, Judaism, Christianity and Islam”.24 The Yezidi community has a caste system. There are three major castes, which are divided into sub-castes. The Sheikhs are the most honoured class. The Pir caste representatives are kind of advisers. These two castes are the highest. Most of the Yezidis refer to the Murid class. Each of them

20 United Nations Human Rights offi ce of High Commissioner, Declaration on the Rights of Persons belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities (1992), p.3 http:// goo.gl/GbmS2O accessed 15.11.15 21 United Nations Guide for Minorities. Offi ce of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, para 2 http://goo.gl/NRU3JR accessed 15.11.15 22 Tuija Saarinen, “General cultural differences and stereotypes: Kurdish family culture and customs”, University of Eastern Finland http://wanda.uef.fi /tkk/liferay/projektit/monikko/ translations/eng/Kurdilainen-perhe-ja-tapakulttuuri-eng.pdf accessed 10.11.2015 23 Ibid. 24 Ibid., p. 3. 13 as their Sheikhs and Pirs to apply during the spiritual events or just for a piece of advice.25 The Kurdish culture is a communal one. The families and family relations play focal roles for Kurds.26 When it comes to the ethnic composition of the South Caucasus, its roots trace back to the Soviet period. During the Soviet Union, the ethno politics became vivid mostly in the Caucasus and Baltic states. In comparison to the ethnic groups, having more representation in the Union, Armenians and Georgians were ones getting better education.27 Some may find a link between that trend and the number of the protests held by these states. The New York Times data, cited in the book called “Soviet federalism and mobilization” depict the number of the demonstrations during 1985-1989 in the Union. According to the respective statistics, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Lithuania, Latvia, and Georgia are top five countries holding peaceful demonstrations.28 The protests had consolidated the ethnic identity of the societies of those countries that soon became independent states. The collapse of the Soviet Union was followed by the generation of three independent states in the South Caucasus: Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Therefore, the Armenians, Azerbaijanis and Georgians are supposed to be major ethnicities living in the region. However, the collapse of the Soviet Union shed light on the issues of various ethnic minorities existing in the pertinent region. Generally, the situation of the ethnic minorities here greatly depends on the overall social-political and economic development of the three states. According to the thorough analysis of the European Parliament, the creation of more democratic and pluralistic structures in the South Caucasian region will be a great prerequisite to ensure the advocacy for minority rights.29 This is particularly important for the countries that have various ethnic groups living together. As such, Azerbaijani population consists of more than fifteen ethnic

25 Ibid. 26 Tuija Saarinen, “General cultural differences and stereotypes: Kurdish family culture and customs University of Eastern Finland http://wanda.uef.fi /tkk/liferay/projektit/monikko/ translations/eng/Kurdilainen-perhe-ja-tapakulttuuri-eng.pdf accessed 10.11.2015 27 Roeder, Philip G. “Soviet federalism and ethnic mobilization.” World Politics 43.02 (1991): 196- 232. 28 Ibid. 29 Fernando Garcés De Los Fayos , “In-depth analysis: Minorities in the South Caucasus: New visibility amid old frustrations”,(2014) European Union, Directorate-General for external policies: Policy Department, DG EXPO http://goo.gl/GMf24Z accessed 14.11.2015 1144 groups.30 According to the 2009 population census, 6,100 people are Kurds covering 0.1% of the whole population.31 The Georgian composition of minority groups is the most diverse in the region. As specified by the European Parliament, the minority groups encompass 16% of the Georgian population. The population census from 2002 indicates about the existence of 2,514 Kurds living in Georgia. Yezidis are counted 18,329 people.32 The complex issues about Yezidis and Kurds have existed in Georgia as well. Azerbaijan separates them on a religious basis bearing in mind that that Kurds are Muslims. However, in Armenia and Georgia there are those identifying themselves as Kurds and following Yezidism.33 The relevant data available in the literature is from 2008 and may not reflect the reality in true colours. This brings home the need of more comprehensive scientific research on identity issues. Ethnic minority groups in Armenia Among all three South Caucasus countries, the Republic of Armenia is the most homogeneous by the proportion of ethnic Armenians living there. Upon the request of the AUNA, the GoA provided data on the number of the ethnic minorities living in Armenia. The table on the ethnic composition of RA (see Appendix 2) gives the picture of permanent population living in Armenia. As it may be assumed from the table, Armenians constitute more than 90% of the population. However, the table also envisages that the variety of the ethnic groups living in Armenia is not small though they are not making “local majorities’’ in specific areas of RA as it exists in Georgia.34 The ethnic minority representatives live dispersed in Armenia. The largest ethnic minority living in Armenia is the Yezidi community. The smallest ethnic group is German. The Kurdish ethnic group has 2,162 members.35 Yezidi and Kurdish identities are related to each other. However, it

30 Ibid. 31 Ibid. 32 Ibid. 33 A Writenet Report commissioned by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Status Determination and Protection Information Section (DIPS). “The Human Rights Situation of the Yezidi minority in the Transcaucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia). (2008), http://goo. gl/8pcUZ5 accessed 15.11.2015 34 Fernando Garcés De Los Fayos , “In-depth analysis: Minorities in the South Caucasus: New visibility amid old frustrations”, (2014) European Union, Directorate-General for external policies: Policy Department, DG EXPO http://goo.gl/GMf24Z accessed 14.11.2015 35 Ethnic composition of RA requested from the GoA by writ #ÄÊ-º-0 340|15 15 should be mentioned that due to political, historical conditions most of the Kurds living in Armenia started to identify themselves as Yezidis and follow Yezidism.36 Both minorities are using the same language with different alphabets: Kurds are using Latin letters when Yezidis apply to Cyrillic alphabet. The shift of Kurd-Yezidi identity may be conditioned by the insights of leaders, authorities of ethnic leaders.37 Initially the study has intended to target the Kurdish minority living in Armenia. Departing from the review of the literature and the results of the study, there is a need of further elaborations concerning the identity issue of the targeted ethnic group. Thus, the results have indicated some Kurds registered in the lists of KC identify themselves as Yezidis. However, these minority groups are officially identified as separate ethnicities in RA.38 To prevent confusion, in the frames of this research, the Kurd-Yezidi differences are reflected through the following designation:  Kurds – those, whose self-identification is Kurdish,  Yezidi – those, whose self-identification is Yezidi (though KC referred them as Kurds)  Respondents – the people from both groups interviewed per KC’s referral As some ethnic groups living in Armenia are ethno-confessional (Yezidis, Kurds, etc...), it will be helpful for the research to take into account the picture of religious minorities living in Armenia as well. According to the International Religious Freedom Report (2014) by the US State Department 92% of Armenians follow Armenian Apostolic church (based on 2011 Population census).39 However, there are

36 Mark Yoffe, “The opinions, recommendations, and conclusions of the grantee are his/her own and do not necessarily refl ect the views or policies of IREX or the US Department of State”, US Embassy Policy Specialist Program (EPS) Research Report, Yerevan, Armenia Dates: September 10, 2007 – October 10, 2007, https://www.irex.org/sites/default/fi les/Yoffe%20Research%20 Report.pdf accessed 15.01.2016 37 Mark Yoffe, “The opinions, recommendations, and conclusions of the grantee are his/her own and do not necessarily refl ect the views or policies of IREX or the US Department of State”, US Embassy Policy Specialist Program (EPS) Research Report, Yerevan, Armenia Dates: September 10, 2007 – October 10, 2007, https://www.irex.org/sites/default/fi les/Yoffe%20Research%20 Report.pdf accessed 15.01.2016 38 “Ethnic structure, Fluency in languages and religious belief of de Jure population’’. The results of 2011 Population census of the Republic of Armenia, 2011, http://goo.gl/NYtG7f, accessed 10.11.15 39 US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy and Human Rights, Labour, Armenia, International Religious Freedom Report, (2014) http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/238564.pdf accessed 15.11.2015 1166 “Roman Catholics, Armenian Uniate (Mekhitarist) Catholics, Orthodox Christians, evangelical Christians, Molokans [a Spiritual Christian sect], Pentecostals, Seventh-day Adventists, Baptists, charismatic Christians, Jehovah’s Witnesses, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), Yezidis, Assyrians, Jews, Sunni Muslims, Shia Muslims, and pagans living in Armenia”.40 The report identifies several gaps between the Constitution of RA and actual execution of laws. For instance, though the Constitution guarantees the secularity of public education, there is an obligatory course on history of Armenian Church taught in the schools. The Yezidi ethnic minority members opposed against this for many times.41 However, organizational representatives explained that they have a right to refuse to attend the classes. Getting back to the ethnic composition of RA population, it should be mentioned about several institutional developments to meet the needs of the minorities. Currently, there are various state bodies supporting the ethnic minorities to cooperate with the decision-making bodies. As such, there is a Coordination Council of National Minorities of the Republic of Armenia under the advisor to the president of the Republic of Armenia established in 2000.42 It aims at “the protection of national minorities, to activate their inter-community relationships, as well as to make more effective the State care of the problems of education, culture, legal and other problems”.43 Under the coordination of the council, there are ethnic- cultural organizations of the minority groups located in Armenia. As to the webpage of the Ministry of Culture of RA, the list for 2014-2015 consists of fifteen organizations.44 The organizations are getting budgetary allocations to preserve their ethnic identity. Some ethnic groups are represented by more than one organization. The Kurdish National Council of Armenia

40 US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy and Human Rights, Labour, Armenia, International Religious Freedom Report, (2014), p. 2, http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/238564. pdf accessed 15.11.2015 41 Ibid. 42 Gayane Selimyan,’’ Ethnic minorities in public administration in the Republic of Armenia: distant utopia or a tangible future? The 12th NISPAcee Annual Conference “Central and Eastern European Countries inside and outside the European Union: Avoiding a new divide”, (May 13 – 15, 2004) Vilnius, Lithuania http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/nispacee/ unpan018445.pdf accessed 11.11.12 43 Ibid., p.6 6 ÐÐ ³½·³ÛÇÝ ÷áùñ³Ù³ëÝáõÃÛáõÝÝ»ñÇ, ³½·³ÛÇÝ-Ùß³ÏáõóÛÇÝ Ï³½Ù³Ï»ñåáõÃÛáõÝÝ»ñÇ Ñ³Ù³Ï³ñ·áÕ ËáñÑáõñ¹ 2014-2015 Ã. ²½·³ÛÇÝ ÷áùñ³Ù³ëÝáõÃÛáõÝÝ»ñÇ Ï³½Ù³Ï»ñåáõ- ÃÛáõÝÝ»ñÇ ó³ÝÏ. ÐÐ Øß³ÏáõÛÃÇ Ý³Ë³ñ³ñáõÃÛ³Ý å³ßïáÝ³Ï³Ý Ï³Ûù, http://mincult.am/ national_minority.html (í»ñç. ³Ûó. 28.11.15) 17 represents the Kurdish minority (President Knyaz Hasanov).45 Another supporting body refers to the division for Ethnic Minorities and Religious Affair in GoA (founded in 2004). According to the GoA website, the work of the division regulates two main spheres concerning “ethnic minority- related issues and the questions relating to religion and freedom of belief”.46 Moreover, the Public Council of RA has a commission dealing with the issues of the ethnic minorities of Armenia. In line with that, the office of Ombudsman has a defender of minorities’ rights.47 The laws and decrees of RA provide for exercising the minority rights. The table on the laws on RA ensuring inclusive approach to ethnic minorities (see Appendix 3) envisages some of the main legal acts guarantying the rights of ethnic minorities. The list covers not all laws having non-discriminatory essence. They are taken from the page of the Division for Ethnic Minorities and Religious Affairs. The laws mentioned in the table may depict the current legal guarantees towards the integration of Kurdish and Yezidi minorities in Armenia. As such, two of the markers of integration are identity and language. On this regard, it may be considered that the law on language and freedom of conscious and religious organizations rather invest than hamper the process of the integration of any ethnic minority, including Kurds. It may be assumed that the Kurds in Armenia have the freedom to follow their religion and use their mother tongue without any legal restrictions. As regards the primary education, it may be organized in Kurdish and Yezidi. According to the editor-in-chief of the Zagros Kurdish newspaper, he developed Kurdish textbooks for the second, third and fourth grades. Moreover, there is department of Kurdish writers in the Writes’ Union of Armenia.48 Second indicator refers to the socioeconomic opportunities. The laws of RA do not put any discrimination, say, if a person wants to register his or her legal entity or make charity. This indicator may be referred thoroughly while discussing the results from the in-depth interviews with the representatives of Kurdish and Yezidi minorities. As regards the participation in the public life, the Kurdish and Yezidi minorities 45 Ibid. 46 Division for Ethnic Minorities and Religious Affairs. The Government of the Republic of Armenia, para 2 http://www.gov.am/en/religion/ accessed 10.11.2015 47 ¶³ÉëïÛ³Ý,Ü.Ø. (2010) ÐÐ ³½·³ÛÇÝ ÷áùñ³Ù³ëÝáõÃÛáõÝÝ»ñÇ Ñ³ë³ñ³Ï³Ï³Ý ϳ½Ù³Ï»ñåáõÃÛáõÝÝ»ñÇ ¹»ñÁ ÇÝùÝáõÃÛ³Ý å³Ñå³ÝÙ³Ý Ñ³ñóáõÙ. Èñ³μ»ñ гë³ñ³Ï³Ï³Ý ¶ÇïáõÃÛáõÝÝ»ñÇ, № 3 . pp. 212-226. ISSN 0320-8117 48 Mame Alikhane, Kurds in Armenia, European Integration NGO of RA, http://www. europeanintegration.am/en/7685.html accessed in 20.11.2015 18 representatives have rights to create public associations and execute their rights of assembly equally with others. The laws on language, on education, and on the basics of cultural legislation, etc. support the educational and cultural integration of Kurds. As it is mentioned above, there are Kurdish textbooks to use during the primary education. However, the report of ECRI indicated about making the curriculum of schools more inclusive when referring to the subjects on History and Religion.49 There was an opposition against the insertion of the history of Armenian Church in the curriculum. As regards the culture, the corresponding legislation supports not only the preservation of minority culture but also invests to disseminate and develop them. Another indicator is media. As such, the law on TV and radio broadcasting and the law on mass media cover the minority rights. The public radio is broadcasting Kurdish programmes and the Kurdish published media includes and Zagros newspapers.50 Aside from the state laws, Armenia is a signatory of international conventions and documents advocating minority rights. Referring to the division, there are the following:  Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms  Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and explanatory report  European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages  International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination  International Convention on Civil and Political Rights51 In line with these documents, the European Commission against the Racism and Intolerance submitted report on Armenia in 2006 and 2010. The latter states about the developments Armenia has achieved to combat discrimination in the country. The reports illustrate the absence of violent

49 ECRI report on Armenia, Directorate Generale of Human Rights and Legal Affairs, Council of Europe (2011) http://www.gov.am/u_files/file/kron/ARM-CBC-IV-2011-001-ENG.pdf accessed 24.11.2015 50 Mame Alikhane, Kurds in Armenia, European Integration NGO of RA, http://www. europeanintegration.am/en/7685.html accessed in 20.11.2015 51 The list of the documents is taken from the webpage of the Division for Ethnic Minorities and Religious Affairs under the RA Government. http://www.gov.am/am/religion/ (accessed 18.11.15) 19 and hostile attitude towards ethnic minorities in Armenia.52 However, the report indicates about the establishment of legal basis against the racial discrimination, namely a law or “provisions in the Criminal Code prohibiting organizations that promote racism”.53 Throughout 2015, the GoA has been proposing changes to the existing constitution. The referendum to adopt the changes was marked for December 6, 2015. The major change refers to the shift from the semi presidential system to the parliamentary one. Most of the leaders of the ethnic minorities of Armenia approved the changes and demonstrated their support for the reforms.54 It may be assumed that the support is mainly validated by the amendment bringing legislative quotes to ethnic minorities living in Armenia.55 Methods This study employed directed content analysis in a cross sectional design. Directed content analysis is a methodological approach that allows for use of an existing framework or a priori concepts to be confirmed or rejected in a descriptive summary of content in qualitative data.56 The cross sectional design relayed on in-depth interviews and focus group discussion using a semi-structured approach. Two groups of participants contributed their narratives to address the primary aims of the study. In- depth interviews with members of Kurdish and Yezidi minorities and a focus group discussion with representatives of organizations who work with the ethnic minorities provided the data for this project. The group of respondents was comprised of three sub-groups: the young members of Kurdish and Yezidi minorities aged 18-25, the local community leaders, and ethnic minority experts. Directed content analysis allowed for confirmation of the concepts in data analysis, which are: 52 ECRI report on Armenia, Directorate Generale of Human Rights and Legal Affairs, Council of Europe (2010) http://www.gov.am/u_files/file/kron/ARM-CBC-IV-2011-001-ENG.pdf (accessed 24.11.2015) 53 Ibid., p.7 54 Artak Galyan, “Gearing towards Consensualism or Unrestrained Majoritarianism? Constitutional Reform in Armenia and its Comparative Implications”, CONSTITUTIONNET (2015), http://www.constitutionnet.org/news/gearing-towards-consensualism-or-unrestrained- majoritarianism-constitutional-reform-armenia-and (accessed 25.11.2015) 55 Ibid. 56 Hsiu-Fang Hsieh and Sarah E. Shannon, “Qualitative Health Research, Three Approaches to Qualitative Content Analysis”, SAGE, 2011. 2200 1. current state and legal leverage 2. obstacles hindering the socialisation 3. participation in the social life 4. opportunities to improve the situation. Content codes clustered into categories that fit the concepts directing analysis. Codes that do not fit the guiding concepts categorized, collapsed as possible into themes that are more abstract and then arranged into categories and themes. The theme on current state and legal leverage are mainly approached during the review of the literature and corresponding legal acts. The following themes have been derived from the analysis: 1. identity issues 2. existing needs of Kurdish and Yezidi minorities 3. obstacles and opportunities and for the integration 4. socioeconomic opportunities and discrimination 5. education and culture 6. media 7. public participation.

Purpose The primary aim of the study is to characterize integration of the Kurdish minority in Armenia (aged 18-25) from the narratives of Kurdish minority and representatives from various organizations (e.g., governmental, international, and non-governmental) currently working in the field of national minorities. The secondary aim is to describe the barriers for the integration through the narratives of the same study groups. Thus, it means to explore the needs of Kurdish minority living in the Aragatsotn region, which hinder their active socialization in the society. Furthermore, it envisages recommending corresponding programs to fill in the gaps and meet the wants of the target groups.

Research questions The study design aims at meeting the following research questions: RQ1. What is the justification behind the need to conduct the research 21 exploring the impediments towards better integration of Kurdish and Yezidi minorities living in Aragatsotn region? RQ1.1. What is the current state and legal leverage of the Kurdish and Yezidi minorities of the Aragatsotn region? RQ1.2. What are the obstacles hindering the socialization of the representatives of Kurdish and Yezidi minority groups in Aragatsotn according to the targeted minority group representatives (to find out the perceived needs)? RQ1.3. What are the obstacles hindering the socialization of the representatives of Kurdish and Yezidi minority groups in the Aragatsotn region according to the targeted organizations (to find out the expressed needs)? RQ1.4. What is the level of participation of Kurdish and Yezidi minorities representatives in the social life in Aragatsotn in relation with the one of the ethnic Armenians of Aragatsotn (relative needs)? The questions are met through the review of current literature on the Kurdish minority on global, regional and local levels. To better understand the legal leverage of the targeted ethnic minority the literature review also encompassed the laws and legal documents regulating the rights of ethnic minorities living in Armenia. In addition, in-depth interviews have been conducted with the community representatives (ten in Yerevan, 20 in the mixed villages where Armenians and Kurds and Yezidis live together and 31 in the mono-ethnic villages of Aragatsotn region). Initially it was hundred in-depth interviews with the minority representatives in Aragatsotn were envisaged. However, the quantity was decreased upon the data saturation.57 At the same time, the location of the respondents has been diversified including targeted minority representatives living in the mixed villages. Furthermore, the focus group has been conducted with six key informants representing the organizations dealing with the ethnic minority issues in Armenia. The perceived needs are supposed to be revealed through the in-depth interviews with the Kurdish and Yezidi minorities representatives. As it is mentioned above, overall, there are 61 interviews from three locations

57 Marshall B. et al. Does sample size matter in qualitative research?: A review of qualitative interviews in IS research //Journal of Computer Information Systems. – 2013. – Т. 54. – №. 1. – С. 11-22. http://iacis.org/jcis/articles/JCIS54-2.pdf, accessed 09-13-2015 2222 (mixed villages, mono-ethnic villages and Yerevan, implemented September-November, 2015). The interviews have been conducted through the semi-structured questionnaires that aimed at exploring their identity and language, socioeconomic opportunities, public participation and culture, application to media. There are also results of the in-depth interviews with the chiefs of Kurdish and Yezidi communities. The questionnaire for the interviews consisted of five open questions trying to see the insights of the current state of their integration. As well, the question referred to the programs done for the better integration of the minority. The analysis depicts also the pitfalls hindering the integration. The community leaders put forward also the possible steps that may foster better integration. To find out the expressed needs of the targeted ethnic minority the focus group has been conducted with the representatives of the organizations dealing with the minority issues. These data were juxtaposed with information from six experts of the field. Questionnaires were developed for the focus group, for interviewing experts, representatives and heads of Kurdish and Yezidi communities. The relative needs were identified based on the comparison of the opportunities available to the targeted ethnic minority and the ethnic Armenians. The findings were used to see if the perceived and expressed needs of the respondents are relevant to the entire Armenian society. R.Q.2. What evidence is there that the Kurdish and Yezidi minorities needs further intervention yielding better social, economic and political engagement? RQ2.1. What are the development needs and wants of the target group? RQ2.2. What are the preliminary scenarios of the interventions meeting the needs of the target group? RQ2.3. What is the level of eagerness of the target group representatives to improve the situation, fill in the gaps, and meet the needs. Having the results of the analyses, the research makes recommendations on the specific spheres requiring further intervention. Those are based on the content analysis of the focus group and in-depth interviews. The final part mainly departs from the experience of experts and key informants in the field. Their recommendations have been adapted to the results of the 23 in-depth interviews with the representatives of targeted ethnic minority. RQ-a. Are there equal opportunities for males and females to be fully engaged in social life? RQ-b. What is the current state of gender equality in the respective community? RQ-c. What are the possible obstacles to provide equal conditions for men and women in the community? Gender Considerations It is supposed that the potential programmes followed this study will apply to the theory of gender mainstreaming. To that end, the research provides gender-segregated data and tries to approach the gender of the respondents as an independent variable.

Study Participants The study used different sampling strategies. Kurdish and Yezidi minorities representatives and organizational representatives recruited using purposive sampling. Kurdish and Yezidi minorities representatives, 18-25 years approached by the KC representative to participate in a single semi-structured interview. In addition, the chain-referral sampling approach was used to enhance the outreach. The representative of KC, who knew the target group of the study, introduced the aim of the study to them. The study has reached 31 respondents in Aragatsotn region, 19 respondents in Kotayq region (Dzoraghbyur, Abovyan city)58, and nine respondents in Yerevan.59 In addition, six community heads of Jarjaris, Rya Taza, Sipan, , Derek, villages and six experts specialising in ethnic minority issues were interviewed. Representatives of the key organizations doing work related to ethnic minorities participated in a focus group discussion. The organizations and institutions from which representations are sought : Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Open Society Institute (OSI), Armenian Helsinki Committee, Zartonk-89 NGO, and the Human Rights Defender’s Office. In addition, the in-depth interviews were conducted with sic experts of the field. 58 Including the former Ellar village. 59 Gender breakdown was the following: 27 male respondents and 32 female respondents. 2244 Research Instruments

In-depth interviews Semi-structured in-depth interview guides were developed using standardized qualitative research methods. The guides were designed to optimize and maximize the value of the data collected to meet the objectives of this study. AUNA study team and two experts contributed in the process of the development of guides.

Focus group The AUNA study team developed a focus group discussion guide. The focus group was envisaged to optimize and maximise the value of the data collected to meet the objectives of this study. The guide was developed in Armenian (see Appendix 1).

Proceedings The fieldwork was conducted from September 2015 to November 2015. The data collectors provided information about the project, obtained oral consent and specific permission for audio recording from participants and organizational representatives interested in the study. Each participant was interviewed using a semi-structured guide that initially built trust by asking the participant about her/himself as a person and then proceeded to collect demographic data. The interview progressed to questions about their social activeness and awareness on the laws regulating their rights. The interview concluded with questions soliciting the participant’s thoughts on access to healthcare and perspectives on services, policies, and other initiatives to address integration. Participants were provided with a phone number in the case if they wished to share further thoughts regarding the interview with the investigator or if they identified other potential participants. The mean duration of interviewing the representative of the Kurdish and Yezidi minorities was thirty minutes. Among the interviewees six community leaders were interviewed using a semi-structured guide that elicited pertinent personal and professional demographics and then explored perspectives on the integration: access to healthcare and other services, needed services, and perspectives on policy and other initiatives to address integration. All heads of the villages

25 received a contact number to convey any thoughts they might have after the interview concluded. The mean duration of interviewing heads of the villages was thirty minutes. The mean duration of the in-depth interviews with six experts of the field was one hour.

Focus group The AUNA study team conducted the focus group discussion. The focus group was conducted by an experienced moderator and a note- taker/scribe. The focus discussion was held and transcribed in Armenian. The duration was one hour and fifteen minutes.

Data Management All recordings and notes were transcribed in Armenian by data collectors. All transcripts are de-identified. All data and data sources are maintained at the AUNA office in a secure location.

Analysis After data collection, AUNA team analysed the in-depth interview and focus group transcripts according to the guide advanced by the European Parliament60 and to the following categories: 1. current state and legal leverage 2. obstacles hindering the socialisation 3. participation in the social life 4. opportunities to improve the situation. These categories were broadened and reformulated into the following seven primary nodes: 1. identity issues 2. existing needs of Kurdish and Yezidi minorities 3. obstacles and opportunities and for the integration 4. socioeconomic opportunities and discrimination 5. education and culture 60 European Center for Minority Issues, Minority Issues Mainstreaming in the South Caucasus. Practical Guide.: Council of Europe, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, (2011) p. 9 Tbilisihttp://goo.gl/o1dA0x accessed 14.10.2015accessed 18.11.12 2266 6. media 7. public participation.

Ethical Considerations All participants were informed about their rights (their participation was voluntary, they could stop at any time and refuse to answer any question they chose, and their anonymity and confidentiality were fully respected). After being informed of their rights, all those who chose to participate provided verbal informed consent. Audio-recording was possible only with permission of all participants, if a participant did not want to be audio-recorded, only written notes were taken. Transcripts and the final report do not contain names, positions or specific employers of the respondents or any other details that could make the participants identifiable.

Strengths and Limitations of the Method

Strengths This study applied comprehensive and rigorous research approaches to efficiently meet its objectives. Though the research was diversified in both its methods and sources, there were broad convergences in agreement among findings, which were reported. The diversity in methods included systematic application of two different approaches, focus group and semi-structured in-depth interviews, using experienced interviewers and facilitators. The study instruments were developed involving experts in the field. Study participants and experts were also diverse in their roles and expertise. Limitations The limitations of the methodology refer to the general essence of the qualitative research. It is known that during qualitative analysis some data is being lost. The rationale behind it is the disclosure of the trends in the gathered data. The study has some specific limitations. Firstly, it refers to limited time and budget. To explore the relative needs, it would be useful to gather congruent data from the ethnic Armenians living in the same region and

27 other minorities as well. That, however, goes beyond the scope of this study. Secondly, the research was conducted in the period of the Constitutional reform in Armenia. The Constitutional amendments were developed with some priorities for the minority representatives. That included provision of places in the parliament for the ethnic minority representatives.61 When the reform is on the way, the views of minority representatives may change. Therefore, it would be worthwhile if this research takes a longitudinal character or a similar study is conducted in the nearest future. Thirdly, as the Kurdish and Yezidi minorities adhere to significant conservative values, the head of Kurdistan Committee has been present at the data collection. Once again, we learned that, as suggested by the previous field studies, the Kurds would freely express their opinion on the condition that they werre familiar with the interviewer. Working under that condition, we were compelled to undertake and mitigate the risks of interruptions and a certain level of bias entailed by the presence of other person in an in-depth interview. Eventually, the low education attainment of the representatives of Kurdish and Yezidi minorities, reflected on their limited skills for explaining themselves and the quality of their evidence. Findings Identity issues Initially the study has intended to target the Kurdish minority living in Armenia. So, following the registration lists of KC and using the chain-referral method, 61 respondents have been selected. However, the interviews and focus group showed that the representatives of the targeted group may have different identities – some of them may introduce themselves as Kurds while others name themselves Yezidis. In the population census from 2011 of RA, Yezidis and Kurds are listed as different ethnic groups. One of the leading specialists in the field has said that Kurd-Yezidi differences are neither hindering nor supporting the process of integration. As to her, “This is something artificially

61 Artak Galyan, “Gearing towards Consensualism or Unrestrained Majoritarianism? Constitutional Reform in Armenia and its Comparative Implications”, CONSTITUTIONNET, (2015) http://www.constitutionnet.org/news/gearing-towards-consensualism-or-unrestrained- majoritarianism-constitutional-reform-armenia-and accessed 25.11.2015 28 made”. This difference has also explained by the historical facts. Mainly it is elaborated like “as Kurds have been engaged in the massacres of Armenians, they prefer to present themselves as another ethnicity or religion”. That may explain why there are very few Muslim Kurds in Armenia. Also there are some Kurds, who preferred to change their identity and be called Yezidis. The change of the identity is relevant now as well. One of the FG key informants has stumbled upon the expression by a Yezidi-Kurd stating, “during those times when I was a Yezidi”. In this context, the expression “those times” refers to the period when that person has not had education. The change of identity may happen also when moving from the rural community to the capital city. Generally, it can be assumed that the shift of Kurd-Yezidi identities derives from historical, political situation and the considerations of their ethnic leaders. Meanwhile, it is worthy to mention that there is no policy in Armenia influencing ethnic identity whatsoever. Following the international treaties, RA leaves to the individuals to decide on their identity themselves. However, there are external social, cultural and political processes aimed to influence the ethnic identity of Kurds and Yezidis, as well as some internal leaders with their interests and political agenda. Furthermore, some confrontations and differences exist between Kurds and Yezidis. These differences are particularly strong among youth. Additionally, the Kurdish media and symbolism are making them more severe on ethnic issues. The research illustrates that most of the respondents find those differences destructive and embarrassing. Some Kurdish respondents try to explain the differences indicating that:

‘‘The Yezidi is the same Kurd who follows Yezidism as a religion’’. Therefore, the research attempts to see the relations between the ethnicity and religion among the respondents of the in-depth interviews. The in-depth interviews put forward the following associations.  Kurds following Yezidism  Pagan Kurds  Yezidis following Yezidism  Pagan Yezidis

29 It may be concluded that some of the respondents title their religion Yezidism while other name it Paganism. The research has not delved deeper in their interpretations of the similarities or the differences between Yezidism and Paganism. There are few people among the respondents identifying themselves as Kurds by the ethnicity and Yezidi by the religion. Another depiction reveals the association between the ethnicity and the language the respondents speak in their families. It has been found out that most Kurds speak Kurdish at home. However, there are few speaking both Armenian and Kurdish. Majority of the respondents with Yezidi identity mainly speak Yezidi language at home. A small number of the Yezidi families speak both Armenian and Yezidi at home. Only two of the Yezidi respondents indicate that their language is Kurdish. One person refered to Kurmanji (dialect of Kurdish language). The ethnic minority representatives mainly speak Kurdish and Yezidi with their neighbours. In Yerevan and in mixed villages, the minority representatives prefer to speak Armenian with ethnic Armenians and Kurdish and/or Yezidi with the representatives of their ethnicity. The same trend exists while communicating with the people outside their community. Consequently, almost all minority representatives are bilingual or speak more than two languages. All of them know Armenian and Kurdish and/or Yezidi language. Some of them understand Russian, however, few of them speak Russian fluently. There are respondents with poor English skills. Only few of the interviewees have mentioned that they speak fluently English and Russian. It may be assumed that even the religion of the respondents cannot be a definite indicator of their identity. The study has reached respondents with Kurdish ethnicity following Yezidi religion. As regards the language, the Kurds by identity call their language Kurdish while most of the Yezidis name the language Yezidi. Irrespective of the identity, all respondents (18-25 years old) spoke Armenian in line with their mother tongues. However, it has been indicated by the experts that most of the Kurdish and Yezidi children do not know Armenian until 5-6 years old.

Existing needs of Kurdish and Yezidi minorities To get more comprehensive picture of the existing needs of the targeted 3300 ethnic minority, they are categorized in three groups: perceived needs, expressed needs and relative needs. The table below sum up those needs. Table 1. Needs of the Kurdish and Yezidi minorities

Relati ve (also Perceived (identi fi ed by the Expressed (by the experts and the experienced by other respondents) key informants) citi zens of RA)

 Kurd-Yezidi problem  Kurd-Yezidi problem  Unemployment  Unemployment  Lack of Human Rights  Uti liti es  Communicati on awareness  Expensive  Uti lity issues  Low educati onal att ainment, healthcare service  Language especially among women  Communicati on  School Curriculum  Language School Curriculum  Expensive healthcare service  Absence of law on  Representati on in the discriminati on parliament  Community consolidati on and its externaliti es As it may be inferred from the table above, most of the needs distinguished by the representatives of the ethnic minority, key informants and experts are overlapping. First, according to experts, the underreporting and lack of consolidated and up-to-date official data regarding the current state of the Kurdish and Yezidi communities makes it difficult to draw a comprehensive picture of its needs and thus impedes the actions of the state and non-state actors in support of integration. All respondents have reflected on the education needs, underlying the gaps in the curricula of the primary schools. Particularly, it relates to the classes on religion and Armenian Church. However, the expert indicated that:

“It is up to them to select or refuse attending those classes”. Additionally, there is a perceived and expressed need to take into account the language of the ethnic minorities in the schools. This issue pertains to the schools in the mixed communities and in Yerevan, where they do not have lessons in their language unlike the schools in their mono-ethnic villages. Most of the ethnic minority children do not know Armenian until some age. Therefore, when going to the schools they do not understand the Armenian subjects and fall behind the overall curriculum. Similar example relates to the healthcare and portrays that “some minority representatives were not able to explain the doctor about their problem in 31 Armenian”. So, there is a need of enhancing their linguistic skills. The overall educational attainment is very low among the ethnic minority representatives. This particularly refers to the girls who attend the lessons and leave the schools without graduating. The main reasons are the early marriages and their social role in the families. They mainly take care of children. As of the men, there are mainly busy with ranching. They have poor attendance mainly in spring and autumn. So, the early marriages and their activities do not let them participate in the formal and informal education. Although young representatives of the Kurdish and Yezidi minorities have opportunities to obtain education, however, their school attendance is remarkably low. There is an imperative to meet this problem focusing particularly on girls’ education. However, this requires a considerate and careful approach not to offend or be judged as interfering with the traditions and culture. The target ethnic minority is generally not aware of the minority rights and the laws ensuring those rights. This need has mostly ignored by them but expressed by the key informants and the experts. The social needs concerning unemployment, utilities and supplies, expensive healthcare services are not solely minority related. According to the respondents, including the experts, these needs pertain to Armenian communities as well and are reflected in high level of outward migration from rural parts of Armenia. However, one of the interviewed Kurdish community leaders indicated:

“We have gas and water in our village, while the neighbouring Armenian villages lack those utilities”. Other relative need refers to the communication issues. There are Kurdish, Yezidi and Armenian villages, which are difficult to reach in winter. The roads are often closed. There are almost no entertainment facilities. Here again, the issue is rather comprehensive and it relates to overall poverty level in RA and slow development of its remote settlements. The interviewed ethnic minority representatives have underlined the need to have their MPs – representatives in the National Assembly of Armenia. This issue was addressed in the recent Constitutional amendments. 3322 Informants also underlined the need to have a solid legal basis preventing any form of discrimination in Armenia. According to the experts, during the study period, the draft non-discrimination law was in progress at the Ministry of Justice of RA, and it was important to enhance the understanding of discrimination-related issues among government officials, local authorities, civil society and public and to develop preventive approaches. Surprisingly neither the minority community representatives nor the community leaders mentioned about the community consolidation process that is in the agenda of GoA. However, the participants of FG discussion called to take into account the cultural differences of the targeted ethnic minority when implementing the steps towards the consolidation, although some experts questioned how the caste system of the ethnic minority fits in the idea of flat society. It should be mentioned that there was a lack of information about how the local governments are going to meet this issue. All respondents were concerned by the Kurd-Yezidi differences. If politicised, they may escalate tensions, lead to ‘securitisation’62 and seclusion, thus, slowing down the integration of both ethnic minorities. Mainly, it can hinder the solutions of the ethnic issues even when the state is making efforts to address them.

Opportunities and obstacles for integration Most of the experts and the respondents were not able to mention any strong obstacles on the way to better integration. In their opinion, the ethnic minority feels comfortable in Armenia. According to the expert:

“…neither the state nor the society demonstrates discrimination towards the national minorities and RA is following the recommendations for improvements in the minority rights to update its approaches”. The latter may be considered as enabling environment for the Kurdish and Yezidi minorities to be integrated in the Armenian society. However, several integration obstacles can be grouped as follows. One group of the obstacles refers to the social issues. The latter covers the installation of gas, water, and the reconstruction of roads 62 Kelstrup, M. & Williams, M. C. (eds.) International Relations Theory and the Politics of European Integration: Power, Security and Community, London: Routledge, 2000. 33 and the schools in their rural communities. As regards the help from the international organizations to support them, one of the leaders of the community recalled a case when:

“…with the support of the UN they have built 1800-meter water pipeline to solve the issue of water in the community”. The communities referred to the need of having kindergarten to create opportunities for the children getting preschool education. As in the county at large, the unemployment is also a problem. Therefore, there is a need to open new job places for not only the targeted communities but also for other residents of RA. The lack of jobs makes people to migrate. There is a high level of seasonal migration in minority communities. As the leader of the community indicated, “65% of the population is abroad’’. Another social problem refers to the healthcare. Some villages need medical centres. However, these are again not intrinsically minority problems. The latter stems from the social conditions of the rural communities in RA. The second group of impediments applies to the Kurd-Yezidi discrepancies. These differences between the Yezidis and Kurds put forward many issues in the local governments. As far as they do not cooperate, several issues are becoming more severed. For instance, though the state finances the publication of both Yezidi and Kurdish textbooks, the Kurds and Yezidis are facing contradiction when deciding which one to use at the schools. At the cultural level, several factors are slowing down the integration. First, the roles of women and men are different. As a result, men are more integrated and more men participate in social life than women do. Secondly, the traditional caste system sustains a certain level of segregation, which complicates the realisation of equal opportunities in different spheres. Furthermore, as one of the experts has mentioned, there is also a geographical problem as their villages are isolated and they are not in a constant touch with other communities.

Socioeconomic opportunities and discrimination Under this theme, the study will depart from the opinion of the experts and respondents on the social-economic conditions and their perception

3344 and satisfaction on the work and attitude of state bodies, services and society. In this part, we will reflect on the cases of discrimination towards the target ethnic minority. Generally, the data portrays that the state creates equal economic opportunities for all citizens of RA. The representatives of the Kurdish and Yezidi minorities could hardly mention any case of the discrimination, most of them said that the state creates all conditions for their economic integration. Though some key informants expressed a different opinion, meaning that the state attention towards the social problems of the mentioned community is insufficient, it should be mentioned that the per capita income of targeted ethnic minority. To better understand the respondents’ views on that matter, we explored their living conditions. Among all respondents, only one man lived separately. The married men usually live in their parents’ houses, usually with their brothers’ families. Upon marriage, women move to the house of their husbands’ parents. Single or engaged girls live with their parents. Two respondents from Yerevan said that they live with their parents in the houses they are renting. The reality of living in extended families may be attributed to the culture and traditions, but the economic factors matter as well. As of the marital status, it should be mentioned that more than half of the respondents were married. Majority of the married couples registered their marriage in the corresponding bodies of , Yerevan and Abovyan. However, there are few cases when the marriage has been registered one or two months after the wedding. Usually, it takes a long time to register the marriage. Some of them said that they had delays for months and even years in registering their marriage. Less than half of the married people had not registered their marriages, because, as one Kurdish woman explained:

“If we register our marriage, our family would not receive social benefits’’. Almost all interviewed married couples had children. They received their children’s had birth certificates in hospitals. In cases with not registered marriages, the fathers had to recognise their parenthood. The children of two interviewed couples did not have certificates but they refused to explain why. It may be assumed that they gave births at home 35 with the help of midwives. The decisive indicator for the economic wellbeing of a citizen is his or her employability. Among all the respondents, only 20% said that they had jobs. Others indicated that there was no job available in the village. More than half of the respondents said that they did not work. However, it was found out that there were people who were busy with ranching but they do not consider self-employment as a job. The relation between the variables of gender and employment of all respondents shows that only four women were working. For instance, one of them had a business of sport clothes since 2004. Another woman was working in a juice factory. Many women said that they would like to be employed, if only there were jobs available in their village. Most women gave births in hospitals. Officially, this service is free of charge in Armenia. Most respondents said that the healthcare services are expensive. Some of the respondents indicated: “We are getting discounts as a large family having many children’’. According to the law of RA regulating the state support of large families with four or more children, the state provides guarantees to ease their financial burden when applying to healthcare services.63 All respondents almost unanimously denied the discrimination towards their ethnic group. One of the boys living in Yerevan said: “My Armenian friend will feel worse than me if someone discriminates me”. At the same time, one of them said that he would like to be an Armenian as Armenians are more reliable. As to him, in several cases, the ethnic Armenians treat minority representatives better than Kurds or Yezidis treat themselves. Almost all said that Armenians did not see any differences between themselves and the targeted ethnic group. However, there were singular cases when the minority representatives indicated that they have felt discrimination at the early ages like in the kindergarten, adding that later on that attitude had disappeared. They linked it with the lack of maturity of the offenders.

63 г۳ëï³ÝÇ Ð³Ýñ³å»ïáõÃÛ³Ý ûñ»ÝùÁ μ³½Ù³½³í³Ï ÁÝï³ÝÇùÝ»ñÇ å»ï³Ï³Ý ³ç³ÏóáõÃÛ³Ý Ù³ëÇÝ,, 2004, http://www.parliament.am/drafts.php?sel=showdraft&DraftID= 304&Reading=0 í»ñçÇÝ ³Ûó` 17.01.2016 3366 Education and Culture As regards the right to education, firstly, it should be discussed if the ethnic group has opportunities to get the education and how much the available education offer fits their culture, say the mother tongue, religion and history. In the case of the targeted ethnic minority, the education and culture have other linkages as well. Particularly, it pertains to the age they got married. According to the expert, who implemented a project on education for the targeted ethnic minority: “You may find the names of the girls in the register, but they are not attending the classes. This is an internal issue of Kurds and Yezidis’’. Moreover, there are boys who need to help family with ranching or other activities, and, therefore, they leave the school earlier. Another question is: how much they use the available opportunities to get education? There are textbooks in their mother tongue for the primary schools, and the state finances the education of teachers of ethnic minorities but most of them do not come back to their villages. Although the prevailing opinion is that there are all opportunities for the educational integration, some experts and respondents raised the issue of the language and curriculum of the schools. According to one of the key informants, there is a plan to integrate the subject on Christianity in the schools’ agenda. This triggered a strong disagreement of the ethnic minority representatives on the grounds that this could be propaganda. The respondents raised the issue of teaching their mother tongue in the Armenian schools of the mixed villages and in Yerevan. However, it was indicated by the expert when the language classes were launched, the attendance of the targeted minority was low. In line with this, the experts and community leaders called for the steps to engage the children of the targeted ethnic minority in the preschool education. As regard the informal education, the opinions of the experts divided. In the past, some of them faced difficulties in mobilizing the ethnic minority representatives. For instance, there was a camp for Armenians and ethnic minority representatives, and the organisers failed to engage Yezidi participants, as their families did not let them attend it. One of the reasons was the fact that they should stay at home to do their chores and help their parents. As another informant indicated, this is an Armenian reality as well. They assessed that as a violation of children’s rights. 37 Another reason hampering the attendance of the camp was the early marriages discussed above. However, other informants told some success stories about involving the targeted ethnic minority. To see the actual picture, we triangulated their data with the answers of the ethnic minority respondents and their community leaders. The level of education attainment among the respondents was significantly low, and as one of the experts explained, many young villagers lacked even a common vocabulary due to their low level of education attainment. The demographic data showed that the vast majority of the interviewees had secondary education. Most of them studied until the ninth grade. There was a case of a young man who studied only two years at school. After the second grade, he quitted and moved to Moscow with the family. There he did not continue the education. More female than male respondents did not reach the ninth grade. Likewise, there were more men than women with secondary education. Only women got vocational education. Mainly they studied or have been studying to become nurses, cosmetologists or hairdressers. The respondents reflected on the low level of the education among women. As the minority representative stated:

“Girls are studying till the eighth grade. There is no opportunity to continue”. The experts reflected on this situation as well:

“There was an example, when the Armenian government has financed and motivated two Yezidi girls to get education in the University. However, their ethnic community has not welcomed them after the graduation as they have acted “against their culture”. Attention should be drawn to the issues of early school dropouts and early marriages of girls. According to the ethnologist experienced in working with the Yezidi community, this issue should be tackled delicately:

“We should tell those girls that we do not criticize that they are becoming early mothers. We want them to be informed early mothers’’

38 The data showed that mostly girls were marrying at 14-17. There was a case when the woman was 14 years old when she got married. Previously some girls used to marry before turning 15. However, now the traditions have somehow changed and girls are getting married comparatively later. They are marrying exclusively the representatives of their ethnicity, and their husband should be from their caste. For instance, one respondent said:

“I am a Sheikh and I have married a woman from the Sheikh’s family’’. The relation between the variables of gender, marital status and education portrayed that half of the women with vocational education were married. However, those who were studying at the universities were not married yet. Moreover, university students were from the mono-ethnic villages and Yerevan. As regards the vocational education, these women were from Yerevan and mixed villages. The closed villages lacked people with vocational education. Aside from the school, very few of them attended extracurricular groups. There were women attending embroidery classes and dancing. Few men went to soccer, box and classes of music and artistry. Those who studied in the closed villages passed elementary education in their native language. For most of them, it was easy. The minority representatives living in Yerevan and in mixed villages attended Armenian schools, so they did not pass classes in their mother tongue. The respondents were asking to add more classes in Kurdish and Yezidi and subjects about their history. This issue was put forward by the report of ECRI as well.64 It should be mentioned that according to one of the experts:

“The previous attempt to start language classes did not register high attendance”. As of the culture of the targeted ethnic minority, the opinions of the majority of the experts and respondents coincided. Upon the laws and the responsibilities of the corresponding institutions dealing with the minority issues, the state budget makes allocations for the preservation of their culture through the NGOs of the ethnic minorities. So, there are no impediments for the cultural integration. Though this idea was dominant 64 ECRI report on Armenia, Directorate Generale of Human Rights and Legal Affairs, Council of Europe (2010) http://www.gov.am/u_files/file/kron/ARM-CBC-IV-2011-001-ENG.pdf accessed 24.11.2015 39 among the experts and key informants, however, there was also a different perception that the targeted ethnic minority was losing their rich culture and being assimilated with Armenians. As the culture might have some influence on the low level of education among the Kurds, the study tried to see if there was a connection between their approach to the healthcare and their culture as well. Namely, the study intended to illustrate whom they were applying when having health problems. The results presented that firstly they were applying to their parents. Only after that, they were referring to the medical centre of the village (if available). As one of the respondents mentioned:

“When having problems, I am trying to heal with herbs. I do not see the doctor if the problem is not serious, because they would give pills”. Generally, they went to clinics or hospitals when having serious troubles like problems with backbone. Few representatives in Aragatsotn region noted that there was a nurse in Tsaghkahovit village. They went to see her in serious cases. Sometimes they would go to the hospitals in Gyumri and Yerevan. People living in mixed villages usually would go to the medical centre of the village. If the problem is serious, they went to Yerevan or Abovyan. However, one of them added:

“I do not trust the policlinics. In case of health issues, I go to the hospitals”. Therefore, overall the targeted ethnic minorities in all three regions were using the service of the hospitals, medical centres if necessary. However, as it was mentioned, the healthcare services are expensive in Armenia. They indicated that the prices are high for all people irrespective of their ethnicity. To better understand the culture of Kurdish and Yezidi minorities, the research applied to their ethnic holidays and memorial days. The analysis also touched upon their attitude towards Armenian holidays. Among their ethnic holidays, the majority have mentioned the Memorial Day, when they are going to the graves. Some of them follow the fasting of Sacrifice and the feast of the Seven days. Most of them mentioned their Easter and Novruz. As well, some of them reflected on the 4400 ritual of inviting Sheikhs to their houses during the events. They are going to their sacral temples during the Easter holidays. Few have mentioned the day of Saint Sarkis65 who is actually a Saint of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Among their favourite holidays, they have referred to Khrdnabi (in February) and Charshama (Arrival of New Year), which are Yezidi holidays. They think all the holidays should be preserved and none of them is redundant now. Mostly they are celebrating the holidays with relatives in their families. In the mixed villages sometimes they invite Armenian friends during the holidays, as Armenian friends are inviting them to mark their ethnic holidays. In line with their ethnic holidays, they are celebrating the New Year and Armenian holidays like Armenian Easter when some of them are colouring eggs and Vardavar. Few of them mentioned about Tsaghkazard and Tyarn Yndaraj. Some of them were going to Armenian churches during those holidays. Among the state holidays, some of them were celebrating the Independence Day of Armenia and the day of Yerevan. They were marking these holidays with co-villagers and friends, and sometimes in their families. One of them said:

“As we live with Armenians, we should celebrate all Armenian holidays with them’’. Overall, it may be concluded that the ethnic minority representatives were managing to preserve both their language and traditions, while celebrating also the Armenian holidays. Like in the case of the language, they preserved their ethnic culture, while being integrated in the Armenian culture. As regards the education, the ethnic communities lacked preschool classes for children. Media The Kurdish minority is publishing their newspaper called Zagros with state financing. There are Kurdish hours at the Public Radio of Armenia, according to the law. In the frames of this study, we tried to explore to what extent the minority representatives were using media and which media they prefered. In particular, how many Kurdish media sources they were reading or watching.

65 St. Sargis day. A slice of Armenia. RepatArmenia http://repatarmenia.org/eng/st-sargis-day/ accessed 28.11.15 41 Generally, the main sources of information for them were the TV and Internet resources. Majority of the respondents were not reading newspapers. Most of the men had computers, mobile phones. However, there were cases among women, when they said that their brothers or husbands had mobile phones, but they did not have. Among the social media, they were mostly using Skype but they mentioned that they did not have an individual but rather a family account to communicate with the relatives abroad. Majority of the men were using Odnoklassniki and Facebook. In few cases, their sisters and wives were using their username to communicate with the relatives abroad but they were not opening their own account. Majority of the Kurdish families had satellite antennas and they were watching Kurdish channels like Sterk TV, Newruz TV, Ronahi TV. Nevertheless, one respondent in the mixed village said:

“I prefer Armenian channels. I am watching Armenian Shant TV’’. Those who did not have a satellite dish, either were following the Kurdish news when being at the neighbours’ place or just following Armenian channels when they were broadcasting news about Kurds. Among the Kurdish and Yezidi newspapers, few were reading Zagros, Rya Taza and Newvruz. One of the women indicated:

“Usually we do not read newspapers. My father-in-law is reading and telling us the news”. Some of them were using online resources to get news and to listen to their ethnic music.

Public Participation Under this category, we tried to portray the attitude of the minority representatives towards the state bodies and society at large. Moreover, the theme illustrated their awareness of human rights. In line with that, this part covered their possible willingness to study new things. There was a general notion when applying to the state bodies, the representatives of the targeted Kurdish minority preferred to represent themselves as the citizens of RA.The representative of the Human Rights Defender office clearly indicated that the Ombudsman do not put any 4422 differences between the applications received from the Armenians and the representatives of the ethnic minorities. However, she noticed: “The Human Rights Defender’s office has never got any application about the discrimination of ethnic minorities in Armenia”. There were Yezidis, Kurds, other minority representatives applying to the Ombudsman office but their problems were similar to those of the ethnic Armenians. Moreover, usually the ethnic minorities did not apply as the representatives of their ethnic group. They preferred to be recognized as the citizens of RA. The annual report by the Ombudsman covers the issues of ethnic minorities in Armenia. However, it was mentioned during the FG discussion that there was a high level of underreporting in that regard. That was why the current study may be useful also for the Human Rights Defender’s office. As well, it was mentioned there was a translator in the courts, but the Kurds usually preferred to testify in Armenian. As regards the awareness of human rights, the vast majority of the Kurdish and Yezidi minorities’ respondents did not know the rights of ethnic minorities. Only some of them were half-aware of those rights, and only few indicated that they knew about their rights as they studied them in the school. Moreover, their low awareness referred to the knowledge on the laws that control their rights. As one of them said: “We are treated equally with others and they do not force us to change our religion. It means that out rights are protected”.

“I know that all laws are equally applicable to everyone in Armenia’’. Almost equal number of man and women were aware of their rights. When being asked about the ethnic problems existing in Armenia, most of them did not have an answer. Generally, they had not faced such problems. One of them living in Yerevan said that the ethnic issues were existing in other countries outside of Armenia. Another respondent referred to the Kurd-Yezidi differences as a shame for the people of their ethnicity. Few of them reflected on the need to have representation of Kurdish ethnic group and Kurdish language at the state level. The main issue, which was reportedly put forward by the ethnic group representatives living in the mixed villages, pertained to the opening of Kurdish and Yezidi schools or adding lessons in Kurdish and Yezidi in the main curriculum. 43 The vast majority of the respondents were not able to express and evaluate the work and expertise of the state bodies dealing with minority rights. They said that they had not contacted them before. However, they assumed that the state was quite aware of minority rights. One of the respondents stated:

“Even if they do not know [our rights], they are not violating them and treating all people equally. The local authority likes us”. One of the important indicators to check the public activities of the targeted ethnic minority is to see if there have been events in the villages, except holidays and weddings and, particularly, how active the respondents have been in those events. Concerning that, the vast majority of people living in the mono-ethnic villages said that there were no events in their village, so they did not attend any. One of the female representatives pointed out:

“… if there are such events the men will mainly attend…”. Regarding the public participation, one of them referred to the protests for Abdullah Öcalan. Those protests mobilised many of the targeted ethnic group representatives. The picture was slightly different in the mixed villages. They told about several events, including concerts that they had participated. However, the women mainly spent their spare time at home. They usually watched TV, Skype-ed with the relatives. Those, who were married, were mostly taking care of their children and the households. They had both Armenian and Yezidi friends. One of them said:

“I like reading books. Sometimes I go to the cafes with my friends”. The respondents were asked about the trainings they might have received. Overall, only few of them attended classes aside from their schools. Those were hairdressing and dancing classes. As regards the classes, the respondents from the mono-ethnic villages were keen to have lessons on medical, legal and rural development issues. The respondents from the mixed villages either did not have time for that or gave preference to the medical classes. In Yerevan, they were willing

4444 to attend the classes on music and human rights seminars. However, the experts of the field mentioned about impossibility to gather the representatives of the targeted minority together for the trainings. The individual approach is supposed to be the most appropriate way to work with them. Moreover, as an expert indicated:

“…the intervention should not be expressed as a help to the ethnic community members. The latter should be more of a cooperation…”. Additionally, the research tried to explore how the targeted ethnic minority was solving their problems. Pertaining to this, the vast majority sought help from their relatives, family members when facing problems. Few of them mentioned about the application to the local authorities. Even if they had never applied to the local community leaders, they were sure if they applied, they would get support. Most of them said that they did not have ethnic issues but if they had, they would apply to the relevant NGOs dealing with minority issues, e.g. Kurdistan Committee. There were very few cases of appealing to the Sheikhs of their families. One of them said:

“…the Sheikh is coming only during the weddings and funerals”. While the representatives of mono-ethnic villages preferred to solve their issues with relatives and family members, the residents of Yerevan and mixed villages applied to the state bodies and friends for several times. Those who applied to the local authorities in the mixed villages were very satisfied by their work. For instance, one of them indicated that it was easy to apply to the local government to get social benefits. Concerning the level of satisfaction with the work of the local government bodies and community leaders, the responses were different in the mono-ethnic villages. Most of them were satisfied as the local authority had helped them to install gas and water pipes. However, some people were dissatisfied. One of them said that the community leader was weak: “They do not do anything for the village”. To conclude, in the mixed villages, most of the respondents were satisfied with the work of the state bodies. Concerning the closed villages, most of the respondents were satisfied, while others were blaming them for improper work. 45 The respondents from Yerevan had few applications to the state bodies. One of them claimed that the local government had difficulties in addressing the healthcare issues. Nevertheless, they were not able to indicate the reason why the solutions of those issues were complicated. In the mono-ethnic villages, they were mostly applying to the local government to request documents (like passport) or to raise the issues in the community. Mainly, there were issues with water and there was a strong need for reconstruction of schools and roads. According to the respondents, these issues could not be solved mostly because of the limited competences, resources and weakness of their local authorities. As in case of the mono-ethnic villages, the targeted ethnic minority of the mixed villages were applying for support to the local government on land, passport, and other issues. The local government did everything in the frames of their competencies. According to the respondents, the ethnic Armenians were facing the same problems as the representatives of ethnic minorities. The gaps in the work of the local government bodies mainly pertained to the reconstruction of the roads and schools in the mono-ethnic villages. Some of them would like the local government to be more responsive, take more initiatives and have better organising capacities. However, the equal number of people was either satisfied with the work of the local government or could not assess it. In the mixed villages, the ethnic minorities were primarily satisfied with the work of the Local Council and the heads of their villages, indicating their inclusive and kind approach. As regards Yerevan, the respondents did not have enough cases of cooperation with the local government bodies to judge their work. To check their career aspirations, the targeted ethnic minority was asked to specify which position they would like to occupy and what profession they would like to acquire. In the mono-ethnic villages there were youngsters wishing to work as ministers or heads of their community. One of them stated:

“I would like to be a prosecutor to create a fairer justice system in Armenia’’. There were many people in the mono-ethnic villages aspiring to become a doctor or a lawyer. One of them said that he was willing to do any job to make money. In the mixed villages, almost all said they would not want to have a position. As one person mentioned: 4466 “I did not study well to have a position”. They preferred to have a job or to study. Some of them mentioned about becoming a nurse, cardiologists, and cosmetologists. Some girls would like to be hairdressers. One girl said that she would like to study languages, and one boy would be happy to learn driving skills. There were cases when 30 years old people were pointing out that they were old to study. To sum up the respondents mostly preferred to be in medicine, jurisprudence or get some vocational skills in hairdressing or cosmetology, driving, tailoring. However, based on their experience, the experts mentioned that the vocational trainings would not be successful in the corresponding community. The women would not attend them. The early marriages would not let the women to participate. Referring to the situation with protection of their rights, respondents from Yerevan stated that the conditions with protection of their human rights are good in Armenia. One of them said:

“Such problems mostly exist abroad. However, it would be good if we have a state…” As of the integration issues in general, they did not see any obstacles hampering that process in Armenia:

“I am dressing in a way that no one may say if I am an Armenian or Yezidi”.

Concerning the issues of human rights breaches in the mono-ethnic villages, the respondents mainly indicated bad social conditions regarding the roads, medical centre, reconstruction of the schools, and lack of jobs, which were indicated by the experts as overall problems of RA.

Conclusion and Recommendations: Possible solutions and steps for better integration Conclusions and the corresponding recommendations are grouped in different categories. In a nutshell, in this study, we have come to realise that there is a room

47 for better integration of the Kurdish and Yezidi minorities in Armenia. Departing from the theories, the literature review covers three distinct models of integration: assimilation, melting pot and cultural pluralism. It may be assumed that the Armenian reality of integration of ethnic minorities tends to the model of multiculturalism. Firstly, the legal environment, including the ratified international documents illustrate that mostly the laws of RA are inclusive and not discriminatory. Secondly, the ethnic minorities are getting state financial support to preserve their ethnic identity, traditions, language. Thirdly, the representatives of the targeted minorities did not mention any obstacles for their full societal integration during their in-depth interviews. The latter has been exemplified especially when referring to the language and ethnic holidays. The results portray that in line with preserving their language, the targeted ethnic minority speak Armenian. Moreover, they celebrate both their ethnic holidays and the Armenian ones. They are inviting their Armenian neighbours to celebrate their holidays together in the mixed villages. So do Armenians during the Armenian national holidays. However, when saying the Armenian model is close to the multiculturalism, we still reckon that in the given context better understanding is needed to improve the policies, conditions and actions for integration of Kurdish and Yezidi minorities in Armenia. The experts and respondents have conveyed that the level of integration of the targeted ethnic minorities in the society is sufficient. The state has created many opportunities for their integration at the legal, executive and judicial levels as a signatory of international treaties. However, there are external factors and internal issues of the targeted ethnic community, which are beyond the regulation of RA. As regards the identity issue, the intervention should transcend from Kurd and Yezidi discrepancies and be more focused on the ways of meeting their needs. The following steps should not have an impact on their ethnic identities. There is a general concern to improve the social and economic situation in the communities (mainly related to gas, water, reconstruction of roads, buildings and other infrastructure). There is a big communication gap between the decision makers and right holders in the communities populated by the Kurdish and Yezidi minorities. At the same time, it is impossible to make a direct intervention by the local NGOs (taking into account that they are closed community). Therefore, capacity-building activities are required for NGOs of the targeted ethnic groups. Upon 48 establishing working links with their NGOs and local governance bodies, the possible scenarios of intervention may be discussed (based on the revealed needs). Upon the experts’ recommendations, the activities should have individual orientation with a thorough selection of participants. One of the key issues among the target minorities is poor education, as a result of inadequate curriculums and dropouts from schools. The general recommendation to the RA Government would be the inclusion of Kurdish and Yezidi languages in the schools of Kotayq region, which have Kurdish and Yezidi students. The study has explored an imperative to launch a kindergarten or corresponding preschool classes for the targeted ethnic minority in the rural communities of Aragatsotn. The latter requires intense cooperation with the local community leaders of the consequent rural communities. There are recommendations to the regional government of Aragatsotn region. Taking into account that 2015-2018 development programs includes insights on community consolidation, it would be useful to conduct informative meetings in the closed villages to inform them about the rationale behind the community consolidation. Furthermore, it would be constructive also to discuss possible implications on ethnic minorities to be proactive in the consolidation processes. As well, some of the community members in Aragatsotn have mentioned about the lack of the skills of the community leaders to organize the work of the communities. As such, capacity building trainings will be useful to meet this need. The latter may be conducted by the civil society organisations. The civil society organizations are investing the integration process through different programmes. However, due to the difficulties the NGOs meet while working with the Kurdish and Yezidi minorities, they call for the design of the mechanisms that will respect their culture and meet their needs, for that, they, in their turn, need specific capacities that could be built or enhanced through a specialised training. Still, several factors slow down the better integration of the Kurdish and Yezidi minorities. First, these obstacles are related to the fact that Kurds live in a closed community with specific culture and social structures. Secondly, it pertains to poverty and other social problems faced not only by ethnic minorities but also by other residents in Armenia. As well, it concerns the ethnic and political contradictions between the Yezidis and Kurds living close to each other but lacking cooperation. 49 Traditionally, in the Kurdish and Yezidi communities, men have more opportunities of advancement in education and in career than women, who spend their time mainly at home, doing chores and taking care of the children. This trend is especially typical of the closed villages. However, several women among the respondents were willing to enhance their knowledge and professional skills. As far as this approach to the women departs from their culture, any attempt towards the encouragement of the Kurdish and Yezidi women should be designed in a detailed way and carried out delicately. However, the previous attempts did not indicate that women encouragement would have success in the targeted ethnic minority. In terms of gender equality, attention should be drawn to the issues of early school dropouts and early marriages of girls. One of the recommendations might refer to the possible interventions by the NGOs to invest in enhancing economic opportunities for the targeted ethnic minorities. One of the ways may be the vocational trainings. However, the experts of the field mentioned about complications to gather women for those trainings. Staring from 13-14 years old, they are already married and busy with housekeeping. Next recommendation may refer to the possible awareness raising activities. The results have pointed out about low level of awareness on human rights. Awareness raising is indispensable, and the activities to reach that goal should be oriented on individuals. Trainings are not an effective way of working with the targeted ethnic minorities based on previous experiences of the experts. Another way to promote the integration of the targeted ethnic minority is the improvement of the legal environment. To this end, the participants have underlined the importance of the anti-discrimination law currently being drafted by the Ministry of Justice of RA in cooperation with civil society organisations. The enhancement of the legal basis and awareness raising trainings are linked to each other. The targeted ethnic minority should stay tuned with the changes and improvements in laws regulating their rights. Almost all experts unanimously refer to some traits of the Kurdish and Yezidi culture, which somehow slows down the integration process. As such, the Kurdish and Yezidi minorities themselves have an internal body regulating their ethnic issues (Sheikhs). For the further studies in the field, it would be useful to conduct in- 5500 depth interviews with other ethnic minorities living in Armenia to have a comparative depiction of the similar needs. Moreover, it will be useful to conduct a wider and thorough time series study to cover socioeconomic, political and cultural realms of the issue. Particularly, this refers to another research after the accomplishments of the community consolidation processes and the Constitutional reform.

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5522 Kelstrup, M. & Williams, M. C. (eds) International Relations Theory and the Politics of European Integration: Power, Security and Community, London: Routledge, 2000. Mame Alikhane, Kurds in Armenia, European Integration NGO of RA, http:// www.europeanintegration.am/en/7685.html accessed in 20.11.2015 Mark Yoffe, “The opinions, recommendations, and conclusions of the grantee are his/her own and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of IREX or the US Department of State”, US Embassy Policy Specialist Program (EPS) Research Report, Yerevan, Armenia Dates: September 10, 2007 – October 10, 2007, https://www.irex.org/sites/default/files/Yoffe%20Research%20Report.pdf accessed 15.01.2016 Marshall B. et al. Does sample size matter in qualitative research?: A review of qualitative interviews in IS research //Journal of Computer Information Systems. – 2013. – Т. 54. – №. 1. – С. 11-22. http://iacis.org/jcis/articles/JCIS54-2.pdf, accessed 09-13-2015 Roeder, Philip G. “Soviet federalism and ethnic mobilization.” World Politics 43.02 (1991): 196-232. St. Sargis day. A slice of Armenia. RepatArmenia http://repatarmenia.org/eng/ st-sargis-day/ accessed 28.11.15 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints https://www.lds.org/?lang=eng accessed 30.11.15 Tuija Saarinen, “General cultural differences and stereotypes: Kurdish family culture and customs University of Eastern Finland http://wanda.uef.fi/tkk/ liferay/projektit/monikko/translations/eng/Kurdilainen-perhe-ja-tapakulttuuri- eng.pdf accessed 10.11.2015 United Nations Guide for Minorities. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, http://goo.gl/NRU3JR, accessed 15.11.15 United Nations Human Rights office of High Commissioner, Declaration on the Rights of Persons belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities (1992), http://goo.gl/GbmS2O accessed 15.11.15 Ursula Apitzsch, Eran Gündüz, “Ethnicity and Belonging as Experienced Dimensions in Mixed Marriages” Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität 97|1, (2012), http://goo.gl/LuuG4K accessed 14.11.15 US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy and Human Rights, Labour, Armenia, International Religious Freedom Report, (2014) http://www.state.gov/ 53 documents/organization/238564.pdf accessed 15.11.2015 Yezidi Religious Traditions”.YezidiTruth.org, The truth about Yezidis. http:// www.yeziditruth.org/yezidi_religious_traditionaccessed 15.11.2015

¶³ÉëïÛ³Ý, Ü.Ø. (2010) ÐÐ ³½·³ÛÇÝ ÷áùñ³Ù³ëÝáõÃÛáõÝÝ»ñÇ Ñ³ë³ñ³Ï³Ï³Ý ϳ½Ù³Ï»ñåáõÃÛáõÝÝ»ñÇ ¹»ñÁ ÇÝùÝáõÃÛ³Ý å³Ñå³ÝÙ³Ý Ñ³ñóáõÙ. Èñ³μ»ñ гë³ñ³Ï³Ï³Ý ¶ÇïáõÃÛáõÝÝ»ñÇ, № 3. ISSN 0320-8117, pp. 212-226.

Laws The law of the Republic of Armenia on Charity http://www.legislationline.org/ documents/action/popup/id/6634 accessed 18.10.2015 The law of the Republic of Armenia on “Freedom of conscience and on religious organizations” (1991) http://www.parliament.am/legislation. php?sel=show&ID=2041&lang=eng accessed 18.12.2015 The law of the Republic of Armenia on “Language” (1993) http://www.parliament. am/legislation.php?sel=show&ID=1793&lang=eng accessed 18.10.15 The law of the Republic of Armenia on Local Self-government. 07.05.2002 http://www.parliament.am/legislation.php?sel=show&ID=1305&lang=eng accessed 20.11.2015 The law of the Republic of Armenia on Public Organizations, (2001), http:// www.parliament.am/law_docs/241201HO268eng.pdf accessed 18.10.2015 The law of the Republic of Armenia on Television and Radio Broadcasting, http://www.parliament.am/legislation.php?sel=show&ID=1464&lang=eng accessed in 18.10.2015 ÐÐ ûñ»ÝùÁ μ³½Ù³½³í³Ï ÁÝï³ÝÇùÝ»ñÇ å»ï³Ï³Ý ³ç³ÏóáõÃÛ³Ý Ù³ëÇÝ, 2004, http://www.parliament.am/drafts.php?sel=showdraft&DraftID=304&Readi ng=0 í»ñçÇÝ ³Ûó` 17.01.2016 ÐÐ úñ»ÝùÁ ¼Çݳå³ñïáõÃÛ³ÝÙ³ëÇÝ (1998)http://www.parliament.am/ legislation.php?sel=show&ID=1658&lang=arm accessed 23.11.2015 ÐÐ úñ»ÝùÁ ѳÝñ³ÏñÃáõÃÛ³Ý Ù³ëÇÝ (2009) http://parliament.am/legislation. php?sel=show&ID=3674&lang=arm accessed 18.10.2015 ÐÐ ûñ»ÝùÁ ѳí³ùÝ»ñÇ ³½³ïáõÃÛ³Ý Ù³ëÇÝ (2011) http://www.gov. am/u_files/file/kron/16%20Havaqneri%20azatutyan%20masin.pdf accessed 18.10.2015 ÐÐ ûñ»ÝùÁ Ùß³ÏáõóÛÇÝ ûñ»Ýë¹ñáõÃÛ³Ý ÑÇÙáõÝùÝ»ñÇ Ù³ëÇÝ (2002), 5544 Ðá¹í³Í http://www.gov.am/u_files/file/kron/culture.pdf accessed 18.10.2015 ÐÐ ûñ»ÝùÁ ïáÝ»ñÇ ¨ ÑÇß³ï³ÏÇ ûñ»ñÇ Ù³ëÇÝ (2001) http://www.gov.am/u_ files/file/kron/toner.pdf accessed 18.10.2015

Online references Division for Ethnic Minorities and Religious Affairs. The Government of the Republic of Armenia, http://www.gov.am/en/religion/ accessed 10.11.2015 ÐÐ ²½·³ÛÇÝ ÷áùñ³Ù³ëÝáõÃÛáõÝÝ»ñÇ Ñ³ë³ñ³Ï³Ï³Ý ϳ½Ù³Ï»ñ- åáõÃÛáõÝÝ»ñ. ÐРγé³í³ñáõÃÛ³Ý ²½·³ÛÇÝ ÷áùñ³Ù³ëÝáõÃÛáõÝÝ»ñÇ ¨ ÏñáÝÇ Ñ³ñó»ñÇ μ³ÅÇÝ http://www.gov.am/u_files/file/kron/min%20norPDF.pdf í»ñçÇÝ ³Ûó` 17.11.2015 ÐÐ ³½·³ÛÇÝ ÷áùñ³Ù³ëÝáõÃÛáõÝÝ»ñÇ, ³½·³ÛÇÝ-Ùß³ÏáõóÛÇÝ Ï³½Ù³Ï»ñåáõÃÛáõÝÝ»ñÇ Ñ³Ù³Ï³ñ·áÕ ËáñÑáõñ¹ 2014-2015 Ã. ²½·³ÛÇÝ ÷áùñ³Ù³ëÝáõÃÛáõÝÝ»ñÇ Ï³½Ù³Ï»ñåáõÃÛáõÝÝ»ñÇ ó³ÝÏ.ÐÐ Øß³ÏáõÛÃÇ Ý³Ë³ñ³ñáõÃÛ³Ý å³ßïáÝ³Ï³Ý Ï³Ûù, http://mincult.am/national_minority. html í»ñçÇÝ ³Ûó` 28.11.15

55 Appendices Appendix 1. Research Tools Armenian Version of the Guides Questionnaires

øñ¹³ Ï³Ý ÷áù ñ³ Ù³ë ÝáõÃ Û³Ý ÇÝ ï»·ñ Ù³Ý áõ ëáõ٠ݳ ëÇ ñáõà Ûáõ- ÝÁ ² ñ³ ·³ Íáï ÝÇ Ù³ñ ½áõÙ, г Û³ë ï³Ý гñ ó³½ ñáõÛó/ùÝݳñÏ Ù³Ý áõ Õ» óáõÛó øñ¹³ Ï³Ý Ñ³ Ù³ÛÝ ùÇ Ý»ñ ϳ Û³ óáõ óÇã Ý»ñ

²Ù ë³ ÃÇí` ______î ¨á Õáõà ÛáõÝ` ______гñ ó³ ûñ ÃÇÏ # ______гñ ó³½ ñáõ ó³ í³ñ`______

Ø»Ï ³Ý·³Ù ¨ë ßÝáñѳ ϳ Éáõà ÛáõÝ ³Ûë ѳñó³½ ñáõÛ óÇÝ Ù³ëÝ³Ï ó»É ѳٳ- Ó³ÛÝ í» Éáõ ѳ Ù³ñ: ºíë Ù»Ï ³Ý·³Ù ѳëï³ ï»Ýù, áñ ¹áõù ùñ¹³Ï³Ý ѳٳÛÝ ùÇ Ý»ñϳ Û³ óáõ óÇã »ù, ³ÛÝå»ë 㿱: ºÃ» áã, ³å³ ¹³¹³ ñ»ó ñ»ù ѳñó³½ ñáõÛ óÁ: º Ï»ù ëÏë»Ýù ÙÇ ù³ ÝÇ Ñ³ñ ó» ñÇó Ò»ñ Ù³ ëÇÝ:

²ÝÓ Ý³ Ï³Ý ïíÛ³É Ý»ñ` 1. ƱÝã ³½ ·Çó »ù ¹áõù Ó»½ ѳ Ù³ ñáõÙ 1. øáõñ¹ 2. º½ ¹Ç ______2. гñó íá ÕÇ ë» éÁ` 1. ² ñ³ Ï³Ý 2. Æ ·³ ϳÝ

3. Üß»ù Ó»ñ ï³ ñÇ ùÁ: ______4. ƱÝã Ï ñáÝ »ù ¹³ í³ ÝáõÙ: 1. Ø³Ñ Ù» ¹³ ϳ Ýáõà ÛáõÝ 5566 I. Þdz II. êáõÝÝÇ ______2. º½ ¹Çǽ٠I. Þ³ýñÇ ¹Ç³ ϳ Ýáõà ÛáõÝ II. ²ñ¨³ å³ß ïáõà ÛáõÝ ______3. øñÇë ïá Ý»áõà ÛáõÝ ______4. ²ÛÉ`Ýß»ù (ú ñÇ Ý³Ï`г í³ ï³ó Û³É ã»ù, μ³Ûó ³/ Ù³ë Ý³Ï óáõÙ »ù Ïñá ݳ Ï³Ý ÙÇ çá ó³ éáõÙ Ý» ñÇÝ μ/ ѳ í³ ï³ó Û³É ã»ù ¨ ã»ù Ù³ë Ý³Ï óáõÙ Ïñá ݳ Ï³Ý ÙÇ çá ó³ éáõÙ Ý» ñÇÝ) ______5. ƱÝã É»½ íáí »ù Ëá ëáõÙ: 1) ï³ ÝÁ /ùñ¹» ñ»Ý, »½ ¹Ç» ñ»Ý, ѳ Û» ñ»Ý (ãÑáõ ß»É, ÃáÕ Ý»É å³ ï³ë˳ Ýá ÕÇ ÁÝï ñáõà ۳ ÝÁ) ______2) ·Ûáõ ÕáõÙ` ѳ Ù³· Ûáõ Õ³ óÇÝ» ñÇ Ñ»ï

______3) ·Ûáõ ÕÇó/ѳٳÛÝ ùÇó ¹áõñë ______

6. ̳ é³ Û»±É »ù ³ñ¹ Ûáù ÐÐ μ ³ ݳ ÏáõÙ, »ñμ: ______57 7. ² é³Ý ÓÇ±Ý »ù ³å ñáõÙ, û± ÍÝáÕ Ý» ñÇ Ñ»ï: º û Ùdz ëÇÝ` ³ å³ áõ±Ù ï³ ÝÁ` ÍÝáÕ Ý» ñÇ, û Ó»ñ ÏáÕ ÙÇó ϳ éáõó í³Í/·Ýí³Í/í³ñ Ó³ ϳ ɳÍ

² Ùáõë ݳ Ï³Ý Ï³ñ ·³ íÇ ×³Ï 8. ² Ùáõë ݳ ó³±Í »ù (» û áã` ³Ýó Ý»É 6-ñ¹ ѳñ óÇÝ): ______I. ø³ ÝDZ ï³ ñ» ϳ ÝáõÙ »ù ³ Ùáõë ݳ ó»É /³ ÙáõëÇ ÝÁ, ÏÇ ÝÁ/

______

II. ƱÝã ³½ ·áõÃ Û³Ý ¿ å³ï ϳ ÝáõÙ Ò»ñ ÏÇ ÝÁ/³ Ùáõ ëÇ ÝÁ

______III. ¶ñ³Ý ó»±É »ù ³ñ¹ Ûáù Ó»ñ ³ Ùáõë Ýáõà Ûáõ ÝÁ: 1) ² Ûá (Ëá ñ³ ݳÉ) ______1.1 ö³ë ï³ óÇ ³ Ùáõë Ýáõà Ûáõ ÝÇó Ñ» ïá áñ ù³±Ý ų Ù³ Ý³Ï ³Ýó »ù ·ñ³Ý- ó»É Ó»ñ ³ Ùáõë Ýáõà Ûáõ ÝÁ ______IV. àñ ï»±Õ »ù ·ñ³Ý ó»É Ó»ñ ³ Ùáõë Ýáõà ÛáõÝÁ 1. ¶ÛáõÕ Ëáñ Ñáõñ¹ 2. ² å³ ñ³ ÝÇ øβ¶ 3. ºñ¨³ ÝáõÙ 4. ²ÛÉ`Ýß»ù ______2) àã (» û áã, ³ å³ ÇÝ ãáõ, ËݹñáõÙ »Ýù Ù³Ý ñ³ Ù³ë Ý»É:)

______58 9. º û » ñ» ˳/» ñ» ˳ Ý»ñ áõ Ý»ù, Ýñ³Ýù ÍÝÝ¹Û³Ý íϳ Û³ ϳÝ/íϳ Û³ Ï³Ý Ý»ñ áõ Ý»±Ý:

ÎñÃáõà ÛáõÝ ¨ ²ß ˳ï³Ýù 10. ƱÝã Ïñ Ãáõà ÛáõÝ áõ Ý»ù 1. » ñÇ ÙÇç ݳ ϳñ· ëï³ ó»É –ÙÇÝ㨠áñ ¹³ë³ ñ³Ý(÷áñ Ó»É å³ñ ½»É, ѳï- ϳ å»ë ϳ ݳÝó ¹»å ùáõÙ, »ñμ ¹åñá ó³ Ï³Ý ÏñÃáõà Ûáõ ÝÁ û ñÇ ¿ , ³ñ¹ Ûáù ³ Ùáõë ݳ ݳ Éáõ å³ï ׳ éáí ¿ Ãá Õ»É ¹åñá óÁ) 2. ØÇç ݳ ϳñ· 3. سë ݳ ·Ç ï³ Ï³Ý ÙÇ ç³ Ý³ ϳñ· (ï»Ë ÝÇ ÏáõÙ, áõ ëáõÙݳ ñ³Ý) 4. ´³ñÓ ñ³ ·áõÛÝ 11. Ø³Û ñ» ÝÇ É»½ íáí ÏñÃáõà Ûáõ ÝÁ Ù³ï ã» ÉDZ ¿: ______12. ƱÝã É» ½áõ Ý» ñÇ »ù ïÇ ñ³ å»ïáõÙ: ______13. ¸åñá óáõÙ ÇÝã-áã ËÙμ³Ï Ý» ñÇ Ù³ë Ý³Ï ó»±É »ù: ______14. ²ß ˳ ïáõ±Ù »ù, û±áã: 1. ² Ûá (» û ³ Ûá, å³ñ ½³ μ³ Ý»ù) 2. àã ______

²½ ·³ ÛÇÝ Í» ë»ñ 15. ƱÝã ³½ ·³ ÛÇÝ ÍÇ ë³ Ï³ï³ ñáõà ÛáõÝ Ý» ñÇ »ù Ù³ë Ý³Ï óáõÙ: /³ÝÑ ñ³ Å»ß ïáõÃ Û³Ý ¹»å ùáõÙ` Ñáõ ß»É,-ïá Ý»ñ /Ãí³ñ Ï»É/, Ù³ ï³Õ, ³ ÕáÃù, Ñ³Ý ·áõó- Û³É Ý» ñÇ ÑÇ ß³ ï³ Ïáõà ÛáõÝ, ß»Û ËÇÝ ³Û ó» Éáõà ÛáõÝ Ý»ñ, ß»Û ËÇÝ ïáõÝ Ññ³ íÇ ñ»É /å³ñ- ï³ ¹Çñ Ññ³ í»ñ Ý» ñÁ »ñμ »Ý/ ³Û ó» Éáõà ÛáõÝ Ý»ñ »½ ¹Ç³ Ï³Ý ëñμ³ í³Û ñ»ñ` á ñáÝù »Ý…./: ______15.1 ÆÝãå»±ë »ù ÝßáõÙ 1) Ó»ñ ³½ ·³ Ï³Ý Ý» ñÇ/ï³ ñ» ÏÇó Ý» ñÇ Ñ»ï ѳ í³ù íáõÙ »ù ù³ Õ³ ùáõÙ, 2) ·ÛáõÕ »ù ·ÝáõÙ ¨ ѳ Ù³· Ûáõ Õ³ óÇ Ý» ñÇ Ñ»ï »ù ÝßáõÙ, 3) ѳ í³ù íáõÙ »ù Ñ³Û ñ³ Ï³Ý ·»ñ ¹³ë ï³ Ý³ Ï³Ý ÁÝ ï³ ÝÇ ùáõÙ…/ 59 4) ²ÛÉ`Ýᯐ ______15.2 à ñá±Ýù »Ý Ó»½ ³ í» ÉÇ Ñ³ ñ³ ½³ï ______15.3 à±ñ ³½ ·³ ÛÇÝ ÍÇ ë³ Ï³ ï³ ñáõà ÛáõÝ Ý»ñÝ »Ý ³Û ëûñ ³ í» Éáñ¹ ______15.4 гÛϳ Ï³Ý Ç±Ýã ÍÇ ë³ Ï³ ï³ ñáõà ÛáõÝ Ý» ñÇ »ù Ù³ë Ý³Ï óáõÙ /îá Ý»ñ` å» ï³ Ï³Ý ¨ Åá Õáíñ ¹³ ϳÝ,-Ãí³ñ Ï»É, û ñÇ Ý³Ï` ÐÐ ³Ý ϳ ËáõÃ- Û³Ý ïáÝ, ¼³ ïÇÏ, ì³ñ ¹³ í³é/ ______15.5 Ò»ñ ·Ûáõ ÕáõÙ ¹ñ³Ýù Ýßíáõ±Ù »Ý, û ³Ý ѳ ï³ å»ë »ù Ù³ë Ý³Ï óáõÙ ______

¼ÈØ- Ý»ñ, ÇÝ ï»ñ Ý»ï, ϳ åÇ ÙÇ çáó Ý»ñ 16. Èáõ ñ»ñ, ï» Õ» Ïáõà ÛáõÝ Ý»ñ ëï³ Ý³ Éáõ ѳٳñ DZÝã ÙÇ çáó Ý» ñÇó »ù û·ï íáõÙ 1) Ñ» éáõë ï³ ï» ëáõà ÛáõÝ, 2) é³¹Çá 3) ûñûñ 4) ͳ Ýáà ݻñ, 5) ûÝ-ɳÛÝ /ÏáÝÏñ»ï áñ Éñ³ï í³ ÙÇ çá óÁ 6) ·Ûáõ Õ³ å» ï³ ñ³Ý 7) ²ÛÉ` ______16.6 øñ¹» ñ»Ý/»½ ¹Ç» ñ»Ý ûñ ûñ ϳñ ¹áõ±Ù »ù, Ñ» éáõë ï³³ ÉÇù Ý»ñ ¹Ç ïáõ±Ù »ù: γ ñáÕ »ù ÑÇ ß»É`ÇÝã Éñ³ï í³ ÙÇ çáó Ý»ñ Ï³Ý ùñ¹» ñ»Ý/»½ ¹Ç» ñ»Ý: ______17. àõ Ý»±ù ³ñ¹ Ûáù ѳ Ù³ ϳñ ·Çã, μçç³ ÛÇÝ Ñ» é³ Ëáë: 6600 ²) ÆÝ ï»ñ Ý» ïÇó û·ï íáõ±Ù »ù ´ ) à±ñ ëá ódz ɳ Ï³Ý Ï³Û ù» ñÇó »ù û·ï íáõÙ Facebook Twitter Skype Odnoklassniki What’sapp Viber ²ÛÉ, Ýß»ù ______

Êïñ³ ϳ Ýáõà ÛáõÝ

18. Ò»ñ ϳñ ÍÇ ùáí, г Û³ë ï³ÝáõÙ ³½ ·³ ÛÇÝ Ëïñ³ ϳ Ýáõà ÛáõÝ Ï³±: º û ³ Ûá, ÇÝ ãá±í ¿ ¹³ ³ñ ï³ Ñ³Ûï íáõÙ /ÏáÝÏ ñ»ï ¹»åù, Ç ñ³ íÇ׳Ï/ ______18.1 г۳ë ï³ ÝáõÙ ³½ ·³ÛÇÝ ÷áù ñ³ Ù³ë Ýáõà ÛáõÝ Ý» ñÇ Ç ñ³ íáõÝù Ý» ñÇÝ Í³- Ýá±Ã »ù: ______18.2 ¶Çï»±ù ³ÛÝ û ñ»Ýù Ý» ñÁ, á ñáÝù ϳñ ·³ íá ñáõÙ »Ý ¹ñ³Ýù: γ ñá±Õ »ù Ãí³ñ Ï»É: ______18.3 ƱÝã ³½ ·³ ÛÇÝ ËݹÇñ Ý»ñ ϳÝ, á ñáÝù, Ò»ñ ϳñ ÍÇ ùáí, û ñ»Ý ùáí ϳñ ·³- íáñ í³Í ã»Ý: Ò»ñ ϳñ ÍÇ ùáí, ÐÐ å³ß ïá ݳ Ï³Ý Ù³ñ ÙÇÝ Ý» ñÁ /·Ûáõ Õ³ å» ï³ ñ³Ý, Ù³ñ½ å» ï³ ñ³- ÝÇ Ï³ éáõÛó Ý»ñ, ¹³ï³ ñ³Ý Ý»ñ, ¹åñáó Ý»ñ ¨ ³ÛÉÝ, ·Ç ï»±Ý ³½ ·³ ÛÇÝ ÷áù ñ³ Ù³ë- Ýáõà ÛáõÝ Ý» ñÇ Ç ñ³ íáõÝù Ý»ñÁ ______

² éáÕ çáõà ÛáõÝ 19. ² éáÕ ç³ Ï³Ý ËݹÇñ áõ Ý» ݳ Éáõ ¹»å ùáõÙ áõ±Ù »ù ¹Ç ÙáõÙ: 61 ______[prompt] [ μáõÅ Ï»ï ϳ±, û± áã] ,[áõ±Ù »ù ݳ ËÁÝï ñáõÙ ¹Ç Ù»É] 19.1 ² éáÕ ç³ å³ Ñ³ Ï³Ý Í³ é³ Ûáõà ÛáõÝ Ý» ñÁ Ù³ï ã» ÉÇ »Ý: ______

Ð³Ý ñ³ ÛÇÝ ³Ï ïÇ íáõÃÛáõÝ

20. ¶Ûáõ Õáõ٠ϳ ï³ñ íáõ±Ù »Ý ÇÝã-áñ ëá ódz ɳ Ï³Ý ÙÇ çá ó³ éáõÙ Ý»ñ ¨ ÇÝã åÇ ëÇ±Ý ¿ Ó»ñ Ý»ñ· ñ³í í³ Íáõà Ûáõ ÝÁ ¹ñ³ ÝáõÙ: ______20.1 ÆÝã å»±ë »ù ³Ýó ϳó ÝáõÙ Ò»ñ ³ ½³ï ų Ù³ ݳ ÏÁ ______20.2 ÆÝã å»±ë »ù ³Ýó ϳó ÝáõÙ Ò»ñ ³ ½³ï ų Ù³ ݳ ÏÁ Ò»ñ ÁÝ Ï»ñ Ý» ñÇ Ñ»ï ______20.3 àõ Ý»ù Ñ³Û ÁÝ Ï»ñ Ý»ñ ______21. Ò»ñ ѳ Ù³Ý ùáõÙ ¹åñáóÇó ¹áõñë ÇÝã-áñ ¹³ ëÁÝ Ã³ó Ý» ñÇ Ù³ë Ý³Ï ó»±É »ù: ______22. ƱÝã û Ù³ Ûáí ¹³ ëÁÝ Ã³ó Ý»ñÇ Ïáõ ½»ù Ù³ë ݳÏó»É

ì» ñ³ μ»ñ ÙáõÝ ùÁ ·Ûáõ Õ³ å» ï³ ñ³ ÝÇ Ýϳï Ù³Ùμ

23. ÊݹÇñ Ý»ñ/åñáμ ɻ٠ݻñ áõ Ý» ݳ ÉÇë áõ±Ù »ù ÁÝï ñáõ٠ѳñ óÁ ùÝݳñ Ï» Éáõ/Éáõ- Í» Éáõ ѳ Ù³ñ 1. å³ß ïá ݳ Ï³Ý Ï³éáõÛóÝ»ñÇÝ 2. ³½ ·³ ϳÝÝ»ñÇÝ 3. Ò»ñ ÁÝ ï³ ÝÇ ùÇ ß»Û ËÇÝ 4. ùáõñ¹/»½¹Ç ÁÝÏ»ñÝ» ñÇÝ 6622 5. áõÕ Õ³ ÏÇ ÁÝÏ»ñÝ» ñÇÝ` ³ é³Ýó ³½ ·³ ÛÇÝ ï³ñμ»ñáõÃ Û³Ý 6. ³½ ·³ ÛÇÝ Ñ³ñó»ñ ³ é³ ç³ Ý³ ÉÇë` ùáõñ¹/»½¹Ç³ Ï³Ý ÐÎ-Ý»ñÇÝ, Éǹ»ñÝ»- ñÇÝ, ³ÛÉ ³½ ·³ ÛÇÝ ÷áù ñ³ Ù³ë Ýáõà ÛáõÝÝ»ñÇ Éǹ»ñÝ» ñÇÝ, ѳ Û³ë ï³Ý Û³Ý ÐÎ-Ý»ñÇÝ 23.1 ƱÝã ËÝ ¹Çñ Ý»ñ »Ý ¹ñ³Ýù ______

24. ƱÝã ¿ ³ ÝáõÙ ·ÛáõÕ³ å» ï³ ñ³ ÝÁ Ò»½ ѳ Ù³ñ: ¶á±Ñ »ù, û± ¹Å·áÑ ¨ ÇÝ ãáõ±: ______25. ƱÝã ѳñ ó» ñáí »ù ¹Ç ÙáõÙ ·Ûáõ Õ³ å»ï³ ñ³Ý ______25.1 à±ñ ѳñ ó»ñÝ »Ý ³ÛÝ ï»Õ ³) Éáõ Í» ÉÇ, ______

μ) ³Ý Éáõ Í» ÉÇ ______

·) ¹Åí³ñ Éáõ Í» ÉÇ ______25.2 ÆÝ ãÇ±ó ¿ ¹³ Ï³Ë í³Í 1. ·Ûáõ Õ³ å» ïÇ ó³Ý Ïáõà Ûá õá ÝÇó, 2. ·Ûáõ Õ³ å» ïÇ Ñݳ ñ³ íá ñáõà ÛáõÝ Ý» ñÇó, 3. ·Ûáõ Õ³ å» ïÇ Édz ½á ñáõà ÛáõÝ Ý» ñÇó, 4. ·Ûáõ Õ³ å» ïÇ Ãáõ Éáõà ÛáõÝ/³Ý ϳ ñá Õáõà Ûáõ ÝÇó 5. ²ÛÉ` ______

25.3 Ò»ñ ϳñ ÍÇ ùáí, ÇÝ ãá±í »Ý ï³ñ μ»ñ íáõÙ ùñ¹³ Ï³Ý Ñ³ Ù³ÛÝ ùÇ ËݹÇñ Ý» ñÁ Ñ³Û Ñ³ Ù³ÛÝ ùÇ ËݹÇñ Ý» ñÇó 63 26. ƱÝãÁ ãÇ μ³ í³ ñ³ ñáõÙ Ó»½ ·Ûáõ Õ³ å» ï³ ñ³ ÝÇ ³ß ˳ ï³Ý ùáõÙ: ______27. ƱÝã å³ß ïáÝ Ïáõ ½»Çù ½μ³Õ»ó Ý»É: ______28. ƱÝã Ù³ë ݳ ·»ï Ïáõ ½»Çù ÉÇ Ý»É: ______29. سñ ¹áõ Ç ñ³ íáõÝù Ý» ñÇó á ñá±Ýù å³ß å³ ÝáõÃ Û³Ý Ï³ ñÇù áõ Ý»Ý Ó»ñ Ù³ñ ½áõÙ:

29.1 ƱÝã ³ÝÑ ñ³ Å»ßï ù³Û É»ñ »Ý å»ïù ùñ¹³ Ï³Ý Ñ³ Ù³ÛÝ ùÇ Ï³ ñÇù Ý» ñÁ Ñá ·³ Éáõ ѳ Ù³ñ: 29.2 ÆÝã å»±ë »ù å³ïÏ» ñ³ó ÝáõÙ Ò»ñ ѳ Ù³ÛÝ ùÇ ³ å³ ·³Ý: ______30. à ñá±Ýù »Ý ÇÝ ï»·ñ Ù³Ý ÑÇ٠ݳ Ï³Ý Ëá ãÁÝ ¹áï Ý» ñÁ ùñ¹³ Ï³Ý Ñ³ Ù³ÛÝ ùÇ ßñç³ ÝáõÙ: ______

ÞÝáñ ѳ ϳ Éáõà ÛáõÝ: º û Ïáõ ½»ù ÇÝã-áñ μ³Ý ³ í» É³ó Ý»É, Ëݹñ»Ù: гñ ó» ñÇ ¹»å ùáõ٠ϳ ñáÕ »ù ½³Ý ·³ ѳ ñ»É 010565595:

6644 øñ¹³ Ï³Ý ÷áù ñ³ Ù³ë ÝáõÃ Û³Ý ÇÝ ï»·ñ Ù³Ý áõ ëáõ٠ݳ ëÇ ñáõà Ûáõ- ÝÁ ² ñ³ ·³ Íáï ÝÇ Ù³ñ ½áõÙ, г Û³ë ï³Ý гñ ó³½ ñáõÛó/ùÝݳñÏ Ù³Ý áõ Õ» óáõÛó γ½ Ù³ Ï»ñ åáõà ÛáõÝ Ý» ñÇ Ý»ñ ϳ Û³ óáõ óÇã Ý»ñ

øÝݳñÏ Ù³Ý ëÏǽ μÁ`______øÝݳñÏ Ù³Ý ³ í³ñ ïÁ`______

Ø»Ï ³Ý·³Ù ¨ë ßÝáñѳ ϳ Éáõà ÛáõÝ ³Ûë ѳñó³½ ñáõÛ óÇÝ Ù³ëÝ³Ï ó» Éáõ ѳ- Ù³ñ: ºíë Ù»Ï ³Ý ·³Ù ѳë ï³ ï»Ýù,áñ ¹áõù ùñ¹³ Ï³Ý ·Ûáõ Õ³ Ï³Ý Ñ³ Ù³ÛÝ ùÇ ·Ûáõ Õ³- å»ï »ù, ³ÛÝ å»ë 㿱: º û áã, ³ å³ ¹³¹³ ñ»ó ñ»ù ѳñ ó³½ ñáõÛ óÁ:

ƱÝã »ù ϳñÍáõÙ` ùñ¹³ Ï³Ý Ñ³Ù³ÛÝ ùÁ ÇÝ ï»·ñ í³Í ¿ г Û³ë ï³ ÝáõÙ: ______à ñá±Ýù »Ý ÇÝ ï»·ñ Ù³Ý ÑÇ٠ݳ Ï³Ý Ëá ãÁÝ ¹áï Ý» ñÁ ùñ¹³ Ï³Ý Ñ³ Ù³ÛÝ ùÇ ßñç³- ÝáõÙ: ______Ò»ñ ϳñÍÇ ùáí, DZÝãÁ å»ïù ¿ μ³ ñ» ɳ í»É ùñ¹³ Ï³Ý Ñ³ Ù³ÛÝ ùÇ ³ é³ í»É ÇÝ- ï»·ñ Ù³Ý Ñ³ Ù³ñ: ______ƱÝã Í ñ³· ñ»ñ »ù Ç ñ³ ϳ ݳó ñ»É , á ñáÝù ³½ ¹» óáõà ÛáõÝ »Ý áõ Ý» ó»É ùñ¹³ Ï³Ý Ñ³- Ù³ÛÝ ùÇ ÇÝ ï»·ñ Ù³Ý Ñ³ Ù³ñ : ______ƱÝã ³ÛÉ ³ÝÑ ñ³ Å»ßï ù³Û É»ñ »Ý å»ïù ùñ¹³ Ï³Ý Ñ³ Ù³ÛÝ ùÇ Ï³ ñÇù Ý» ñÁ Ñá ·³ Éáõ ѳ Ù³ñ: ______γ± ÇÝã-áñ μ³Ý, á ñÁ ãùÝݳñÏ í»ó ¨ ¹áõù Ïáõ ½» ݳ ÛÇù ³ í» É³óÝ»É: ______

Þ³ï ßÝáñ ѳ ϳ Éáõà ÛáõÝ Å³ Ù³ Ý³Ï ïñ³ Ù³¹ ñ» Éáõ ѳ Ù³ñ: гñ ó» ñÇ ¹»å ùáõ٠ϳ- ñáÕ »ù ϳå ѳë ï³ ï»É Ù»½ Ñ»ï` 010565595:

65 øñ¹³ Ï³Ý ÷áù ñ³ Ù³ë ÝáõÃ Û³Ý ÇÝ ï»·ñ Ù³Ý áõ ëáõ٠ݳ ëÇ ñáõà Ûáõ- ÝÁ ² ñ³ ·³ Íáï ÝÇ Ù³ñ ½áõÙ, г Û³ë ï³Ý гñ ó³½ ñáõÛó/ùÝݳñÏ Ù³Ý áõ Õ» óáõÛó γ½ Ù³ Ï»ñ åáõà ÛáõÝ Ý» ñÇ Ý»ñ ϳ Û³ óáõ óÇã Ý»ñ

øÝݳñÏ Ù³Ý ëÏǽ μÁ`______øÝݳñÏ Ù³Ý ³ í³ñ ïÁ`______

Ø»Ï ³Ý·³Ù ¨ë ßÝáñѳ ϳ Éáõà ÛáõÝ ³Ûë ѳñó³½ ñáõÛ óÇÝ Ù³ëÝ³Ï ó» Éáõ ѳ- Ù³ñ: ºíë Ù»Ï ³Ý ·³Ù ѳë ï³ ï»Ýù,áñ ¹áõù ³ÛÝ Ï³½ Ù³ Ï»ñ åáõÃ Û³Ý Ý»ñ ϳ Û³ óáõ- óÇãÝ »ù, áñÝ áõ ÝÇ áñ¨¿ ³½ ¹» óáõà ÛáõÝ Ï³Ù Ï³å ùñ¹³ Ï³Ý ÷áù ñ³ Ù³ë ÝáõÃ Û³Ý Ñ»ï: ²ÛÝ å»ë 㿱: º û áã, ³ å³ ¹³¹³ ñ»ó ñ»ù ѳñ ó³½ ñáõÛ óÁ:

²ÛÅÙ » Ï»ù ѳ Ù³ éáï Ý»ñ ϳ Û³ó Ý»Ýù Ûáõ ñ³ ù³Ýã Ûáõ ñÇë ϳ½ Ù³ Ï»ñ åáõà Ûáõ ÝÁ ¨ ³ß ˳ ï³Ý ùÁ ѳ Ù³ÛÝ ùÇ Ñ»ï: ______ÆëÏ ÑÇ Ù³ Ãí³ñ Ï»Ýù Ù»Ï-»ñ Ïáõ ³ Ù» ݳ ϳñ¨áñ Ëá ãÁÝ ¹áï Ý» ñÁ ùñ¹³ Ï³Ý Ñ³- Ù³ÛÝ ùÇ ßñç³ ÝáõÙ: ______²ÛÅÙ ³Ý¹ ñ³ ¹³é ݳÝù ³Ûë ËݹÇñÝ» ñÇ Ñ³Õ Ã³ ѳñ Ù³ ÝÁ: ______ƱÝã ù³Û É»ñ »Ý Ó»é ݳñÏ í»É, ¨ DZÝã ³ñ¹ ÛáõÝù Ý»ñ »Ý ïí»É ³Û¹ ù³ÛÉ» ñÁ: ______ƱÝã ¿ ѳñ ϳ íáñ ³ Ý»É ùñ¹³ Ï³Ý Ñ³ Ù³ÛÝùÇ ÇÝ ï»·ñ Ù³Ý Ñ³ Ù³ñ: ______à ñáÝù »Ý ³é ѳ ë³ ñ³Ï ùñ¹³ Ï³Ý Ñ³ Ù³ÛÝ ùÇ Ï³ ñÇù Ý» ñÁ ¨ ¹ñ³Ýù Ñá ·³ Éáõ áõ- ÕÇ Ý»ñ: ______

Þ³ï ßÝáñ ѳ ϳ Éáõà ÛáõÝ Å³ Ù³ Ý³Ï ïñ³ Ù³¹ ñ» Éáõ ѳ Ù³ñ: гñ ó» ñÇ ¹»å ùáõ٠ϳ- ñáÕ »ù ϳå ѳë ï³ ï»É Ù»½ Ñ»ï` 010565595:

6666 Appendix 2. Ethnic composition of RA.

Table 2. Ethnic composition of RA. Population census of 2011

Overall 3018854 Armenian 2961801 Yezidi 35308 Russians 11911 Assyrians 2768 Kurds 2162 Ukrainians 1176 Greeks 900 Georgians 617 Persians 476 Belorussians 214 Jews 127 Polish 124 Germans 67 Others 1102 Refused to answer 100

67 Appendix 3. Laws ensuring inclusive approach Table 3. Laws ensuring inclusive approach to ethnic minorities in Armenia.66

On the Section 1 freedom of “In the Republic of Armenia the citizens’ freedom of conscience conscience and profession of faith are guaranteed. Each citizen decides and on freely his position toward religion, has the right to profess a religious desired religion or not to profess any religion, to engage in organization religious rites individually or together with other citizens. Section 2 The citizens of the Republic of Armenia are equal before the law in all realms of life: civil, political, economical and cultural, irrespective of their religious beliefs or religious affiliation. Those responsible for causing direct or indirect restrictions on the right of citizens to practice their faith, persecution or other restrictions on religious grounds, fomenting religious strife shall be held accountable before the law”.67 On language Article 1 “The Republic of Armenia on its territory shall guarantee the free usage of languages of national minorities. Article 2 in communities of national minorities in the Republic of Armenia the general education may be organized in their native language in accordance with the state program and with the state patronage and compulsory teaching of the ”.68

On television Article 28. “Public Television and Radio Company is obliged and radio to: To provide the audience with programs that considers broadcasting the interests of ethnic minorities, different social groups and different regions of Armenia. Public Television and Radio can provide airtime for the ethnic minorities in their languages”.69

66 The list of the laws was retrieved from the website of the Division for Ethnic Minorities and Religious Affairs under the RA Government. The table covers only some laws (not all them) from the list http://www.gov.am/am/religion/ accessed 18.11.15 67 The law of the Republic of Armenia on “the freedom of conscience and on religious organizations’ (1991) http://www.parliament.am/legislation.php?sel=show&ID=2041&lang=eng accessed 18.11.2015 68 The law of the Republic of Armenia on “Language” (1993) http://www.parliament.am/ legislation.php?sel=show&ID=1793&lang=eng accessed 18.11.15 69 The law of the Republic of Armenia on Television and Radio Broadcasting, Article 28, http:// www.parliament.am/legislation.php?sel=show&ID=1464&lang=eng accessed in 18.10.2015 68 On charity Article 5 of the Charity law states the principles to conduct charity. “The 7th principle excepts national discrimination while doing charity’.70 On education “The law states that the public education of the national minorities living in Armenia may be organized in their mother tongue or ethnic language. However, the teaching of Armenian is mandatory”.71 On public Article 3 “A person’s right to form associations with other organizations persons encompasses the right to freely set up an association, the right to become a member (participant) of an organization, and the right to freely withdraw from membership (participation) of an organization, regardless of nationality, race, sex, language, religion, political and other believes social origin, welfare standards and citizenship’’.72 On freedom The law states that everyone can participate in have including of assembly RA citizens, citizens of other countries and people who do not have citizenship.73 On RA Article 20 is mentioning that the ethnic minorities of RA may holidays and mark their ethnic holidays and memorial days, if they do not memorial contradict the Constitution of RA.74 days

On basics The Article 8 of the corresponding RA supports the ethnic of cultural minorities in Armenia to preserve, disseminate and develop legislation their religion, traditions, language, and cultural heritage through state programmes.75

70 The law of the Republic of Armenia on Charity, Article 5, http://www.legislationline.org/ documents/action/popup/id/6634 accessed 18.10.2015 71 ÐÐ ûñ»ÝùÁ ѳÝñ³ÏñÃáõÃÛ³Ý Ù³ëÇÝ (2009) http://parliament.am/legislation. php?sel=show&ID=3674&lang=arm accessed 18.10.2015 72 The law of the Republic of Armenia on Public Organizations, Article 3, (2001), http://www. parliament.am/law_docs/241201HO268eng.pdf accessed 18.10.2015 73 ÐÐ ûñ»ÝùÁ ѳí³ùÝ»ñÇ ³½³ïáõÃÛ³Ý Ù³ëÇÝ (2011) http://www.gov.am/u_files/file/ kron/16%20Havaqneri%20azatutyan%20masin.pdf accessed 18.10.2015 74 ÐÐ ûñ»ÝùÁ ïáÝ»ñÇ ¨ ÑÇß³ï³ÏÇ ûñ»ñÇ Ù³ëÇÝ (2001) http://www.gov.am/u_files/file/ kron/toner.pdf accessed 18.10.2015 75 ÐÐ ûñ»ÝùÁ Ùß³ÏáõóÛÇÝ ûñ»Ýë¹ñáõÃÛ³Ý ÑÇÙáõÝùÝ»ñÇ Ù³ëÇÝ (2002), Ðá¹í³Í 8 http:// www.gov.am/u_files/file/kron/culture.pdf accessed 18.10.2015 69 For notes

7700 For notes

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