Assyrians in Armenia (Armenian: Ասորիներ, Asoriner) make up the country's third largest ethnic minority, after Yazidis and Russians. According to the 2001 census, there are 3,409 Assyrians living in Armenia^[1], and Armenia is home to some of the last surviving Assyrian communities.^[2] There were 6,000 Assyrians in Armenia before the break up of USSR, but because of Armenia's struggling economy, the population has been cut by half, as many have fled to Russian areas (Kazan, Moscow) with significant Assyrian populations. Malak Ta’us, the peacock angel The Yazidi or Yezidi (Kurdish: Êzidî) are adherents of a small Middle Eastern religion with ancient origins. ... It has been suggested that Assyrian people be merged into this article or section. ... Armenia is the second most densely populated of the former Soviet republics. ... Kazan (Russian: ; Tatar: Qazan, Казан) is the capital city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, and one of Russias largest cities. ... Location Position of Moscow in Europe Government Country District Subdivision Russia Central Federal District Federal City Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov Geographical characteristics Area  - City 1,081 km² Population  - City (2005)    - Density 10,415,400   8537. ...

History

Assyrians were living in what is today the Republic of Armenia during ancient times, as the Kingdom of Urartu was under the Assyrian empire from 825 BC to 617 BC. Today's Assyrian population in Armenia are descendants of settlers who came starting in the early nineteenth century during the Russo-Persian War (1826-1828), when thousands refugees fled their homeland in the areas around Urmia in Persia. In the beginning of the 20th century, many came from what is today Southeastern Turkey, specifically the Hakkari region, where it was common to have Assyrians and Armenians living in the same villages. Assyrians, like their Armenian neighbors, suffered during a genocide by the Ottoman Turks, in which an estimated 275,000 Assyrians perished.^[3] As many Armenians fled Anatolia for what is today Armenia, many Assyrians followed as well, citing it as the only "Christian haven" in the region. Throughout history, relations between the Assyrians and Armenian majority have tended to be friendly, as both groups have practiced Christianity since ancient times and have suffered through Islamic persecution. Urartu was an ancient kingdom in Anatolia, centred in the mountainous region around Lake Van (presently in Turkey), which existed from about 1000 BC, or earlier, until 585 BC, and which, at its apogee, stretched from northern Mesopotamia through the southern Caucasus. ... Centuries: 10th century BC - 9th century BC - 8th century BC Decades: 870s BC 860s BC 850s BC 840s BC 830s BC - 820s BC - 810s BC 800s BC 790s BC 780s BC 770s BC Events and trends 827 BC - Zhou xuan wang becomes King of the Zhou Dynasty of China. ... Centuries: 8th century BC - 7th century BC - 6th century BC Decades: 660s BC 650s BC 640s BC 630s BC 620s BC - 610s BC - 600s BC 590s BC 580s BC 570s BC 560s BC Events and Trends 619 BC - Alyattes becomes king of Lydia 619 BC _ Death of Zhou xiang... The Russo-Persian War of 1826-1828 was the last major military conflict between the Russian Empire and the Persian Empire. ... Map of Iran showing location of Urmia. ... For other uses of this term see: Persia (disambiguation) The Persian Empire is the name used to refer to a number of historic dynasties that have ruled the country of Persia (Iran). ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999... Hakkâri, formerly Çölemerik, is the capital city of the Hakkâri il, Turkey. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Ottoman Turks were the ethnic subdivision of the Turkish people who dominated the ruling class of the Ottoman Empire. ... Anatolia lies east of the Bosphorus, between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Anatolia is a peninsula of Western Asia which forms the greater part of the Asian portion of Turkey, as opposed to the European portion (Thrace, or traditionally Rumelia). ... Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on Jesus of Nazareth and his life, death, resurrection, and teachings as presented in the New Testament. ... This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. ...

Current situation

The Assyrians have managed to both integrate with Armenian society and maintain their own ethnic identity, as there are classes teaching the Assyrian language. Most Assyrians are fluent in Armenian and Russian as well. Assyrians in Armenia today mostly belong to Assyrian Church of the East, but there is a small community belonging to the Chaldean Catholic Church as well. They mostly work in the fields of gardening, agriculture and viniculture. There are big Assyrian communities in the region of Verin Dvin, Arzni and Dmitrov of the Ararat district. There is a Assyrian Youth Center in the Armenian capital, Yerevan. Mixed marriages between Assyrians and Armenians are becoming more common today, where as Assyrians were strictly self-isolated in the two centuries before. The term Assyrian language can mean one of: Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: a language spoken in Israel, Syria, and Mesopotamia from perhaps 700 BC until now. ... The Holy Apostolic Catholic Ancient Assyrian Church of the East under His Holiness Mar Dinkha IV is a Christian church that traces its origins to the See of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, said to be founded by Saint Thomas the Apostle as well as Saint Mari and Addai as evidenced in the... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Yerevan (Armenian: ÔµÖ€Õ¥Ö‚Õ¡Õ¶ or ÔµÖ€Ö‡Õ¡Õ¶; sometimes written as Erevan; former names include Erebuni and Erivan) (population: 1,088,300 (2004 estimate) [1]) is the largest city and capital of Armenia. ...

References

See Also

• Assyrian people
• Assyrian diaspora
• Assyrian genocide

Assyrians are an ethnic group found in what is today Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Syria, and Lebanon, who are speakers of various neo-Aramaic languages. ... Since World War I, the Assyrian diaspora has steadily increased so that there are now more Assyrians living in western countries (including Australia) than in the Middle East. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

External Links

• Assyrian Association of Armenia
• Nineveh: Assyrian Woman in the Days of Mourning

Assyrians around the world

Homeland: Iraq - Iran - Syria - Turkey

Diaspora: Armenia - Canada - Georgia - Germany - Netherlands - United States