Armenia: Yazidis rally in Yerevan
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 14 August 2014 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Armenia: Yazidis rally in Yerevan, 14 August 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/54003efa14.html [accessed 18 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
August 14, 2014
By RFE/RL's Armenian Service
Scores of Yazidis rallied in Yerevan on August 14 demanding the Armenian government provide help, including weapons, to Yazidis under siege in northern Iraq.
Demonstrators called on the government to champion the cause of the Yazidis in Iraq and put the issue of their plight at the hands of militants from the Islamic State on the agenda at the United Nations.
Some of the Yazidis demanded a meeting with Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamian, saying the Armenia was not adequately reacting to "the genocide of the Yazidis."
Abrahamian did not come out to meet with the demonstrators but his deputy chief of staff Gurgen Dumanian spoke with the crowd.
Dumanian told them the government would send some $50,000 worth of humanitarian aid to Yazidis in Iraq.
There are some 60,000 Yazidis living in Armenia, descendants of Yazidis who fled there during the notorious 1915 Ottoman massacre of Armenians that also saw thousands of Yazidis killed as well.
With additional reporting from Interfax
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
