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| The '''Yeraz''' people, sometimes called '''Yer-az''' or '''Yerazi''', are an ] sub-group, also referred to as a ], consisting of ] ]. The term Yeraz has double-meaning in the ]: either meaning "Azeris from ]" | |||
| <ref name=e6>, Conciliation Resources, ''Accessed Dec. 14, 2006''.</ref> or through the separate words "yeri" and "az", meaning a person without a place. | |||
| Due to longtime historic tensions between neighboring Armenia and ], virtually all Azerbaijanis have left Armenia for ] and other countries lastly in 1988-89]. ] estimates the current population of Azeris in Armenia to be somewhere between 30 and a few hundred persons<ref>. Received on ] ]</ref>, with majority of them living in rural areas and being members of mixed couples (mostly Azeri women married to ] men), as well as elderly and sick, and thus unable to leave the country. Most of them are also reported to have changed their names and maintain a low profile to avoid discrimination<ref name="unhcr1">. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Geneva: September ]</ref><ref> U.S. Department of State. Released ], ]</ref>. | |||
| == History == | |||
| According to the Armenian-American historian George Bournoutian, "in the first quarter of the 19th century the Khanate of Erevan included most of Eastern Armenia and covered an area of approximately 7,000 square miles. The land was mountainous and dry, the population of about 100,000 was roughly 80 percent ] (Persian, Azeri, Kurdish) and 20 percent Christian (Armenian)".<ref>George A. Bournoutian. ''Eastern Armenia in the Last Decades of Persian Rule'', 1807 - 1828 (Malibu: Undena Publications, 1982), pp. xxii + 165</ref> After the incorporation of the ] into the ] in ], many Muslims (Azeris, Kurds, Lezgis and various nomadic tribes) left the area and were replaced with tens of thousands of Armenian refugees from Persia. Such migrations, albeit on a lesser scale, continued until the end of the 19th century.<ref> by Tim Potier. Martinus Nijhoff | |||
| Publishers. 2001. p.2 ISBN 9041114777</ref> By ] Muslims in what had been the Erivan khanate were already outnumbered by migrating Armenians.<ref> by Svante Cornell. Routledge. 2001. p.67 ISBN 0700711627</ref> According to the ], by the beginning of the 20th century a significant population of Azeris still lived in ]. They numbered about 300,000 persons or 37.5% in ]'s ] (roughly corresponding to most of present-day central ], the ] of ], and ]'s ] exclave).<ref>{{ru icon}} </ref> Most lived in rural areas and were engaged in farming and carpet-weaving. They formed the majority in 4 of the governorate's 7 districts, including the city of Erivan (]) itself where they constituted 49% of the population (compared to 48% constituted by Armenians).<ref>{{ru icon}} </ref> At the time, Eastern Armenian cultural life was centered more around the holy city of ], seat of the ].<ref name="DeWaal01">Thomas de Waal. ''Black Garden: Armenia And Azerbaijan Through Peace and War''. New York: New York University Press, p. 74. ISBN 0-8147-1945-7</ref> Historian Luigi Villari reported that in ], Azeris in Yerevan were generally wealthier than the Armenians living the city.<ref> by Luigi Villari. London, T. F. Unwin, 1906: p. 267</ref> | |||
| For Azeris of Armenia, the 20th century was the period of marginalization, discrimination, mass and often forcible migrations<ref name="dewaal">Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War by Thomas de Waal ISBN 0814719457</ref> resulting in significant changes in the country's ethnic composition, even though they have managed to stay its largest ethnic minority until the ]. In ]–] Erivan Governorate became an arena of clashes between Armenians and Azeris believed to have been instigated by the Russian government in order to draw public attention away from the ].<ref>{{ru icon}} by Boris Baykov</ref> | |||
| Tensions rose again after both Armenia and Azerbaijan became briefly independent from the ] in ]. Both quarreled over where their common borders lay.<ref name="DeWaal01">de Waal. ''Black Garden''. p. 127-8.</ref> Warfare coupled with the influx of Armenian refugees resulted in widespread massacres of Muslims in Armenia<ref> by Stuart J. Kaufman. Cornell University Press. 2001. p.58 ISBN 0801487366</ref><ref>{{ru icon}} </ref><ref> by Andrew Andersen</ref><ref>{{ru icon}} . State Archives of the Russian Federation, fund 1318, list 1, folder 413, document 21</ref><ref>{{ru icon}} ] ]. Retrieved ] ]</ref> causing virtually all of them to flee to Azerbaijan.<ref name="dewaal"/> Relatively few returned, as according to the ] All-Soviet population census of there were only 78,228 Azeris living in Armenia.<ref name="saparov"> by Arseny Sarapov</ref> By ], however, the numbers increased to 131,000.<ref>{{ru icon}}. ''Demoscope.ru''</ref> | |||
| In ]–], with the ]'s adoption of the resolution entitled "Planned measures for the resettlement of collective farm workers and other Azerbaijanis from the Armenian SSR to the Kura-Arax lowlands", the growing Azeri community became partly subject to "voluntary resettlement" (classified by Azerbaijani sources as in fact ]<ref>. ''Azerbembassy.org.cn''</ref>) into central Azerbaijan<ref> by Anita L. P. Burdett (ed.) ISBN 1-85207-955-X</ref> to make way for incoming Armenian immigrants from the ]. Some 100,000 Azeris left Armenia within those three years<ref name="saparov"/> bringing the number of those in Armenia further down to 107,748 in ].<ref>{{ru icon}} . ''Demoscope.ru''</ref> By ], Azeris numbering 160,841 were constituting 6.5% of Armenia's population.<ref>{{ru icon}} . ''Demoscope.ru''</ref> | |||
| In 1988-90 the remaining 220 000 Azerbaijanis were forced to flee primerily to Azerbaijan. | |||
| ==Current situation== | |||
| As stated above most of Azerbaijanis deported from Armenia in different years of 20th century settled in Azerbaijan. | |||
| In Azerbaijan, the they form a cohesive political clan that, along with the ]i clan, has dominated Azerbaijani politics since Soviet times.<ref name=e2>, The European Forum for Democracy and Solidarity, November 24, 2006, ''Accessed Dec. 14, 2006''.</ref><ref name=e3>Ben Wetherall, , Global Insight, ''Accessed Dec. 14, 2006''.</ref> Though born in ], the family of ], longtime President of Azerbaijan and father of its current President, originated from Armenia; as a result he essentially had a double-origin and strong political base in Azerbaijan's Western clans.<ref name=e5>, Europe Report N°156, International Crisis Group, May 12, 2004, ''Accessed Dec. 14, 2006''.</ref> As the distribution of power in Azeri politics is based on clan and familial ties<ref name=e1>Philip Stephens, , ''Financial Times'', October 28, 2005, ''Accessed Dec. 14, 2006''.</ref>, these two Western Azeri clans have pushed other clans from power<ref name=e2>, The European Forum for Democracy and Solidarity, November 24, 2006, ''Accessed Dec. 14, 2006''.</ref><ref name=e5>, Europe Report N°156, International Crisis Group, May 12, 2004, ''Accessed Dec. 14, 2006''.</ref> and formed a pyramidal web of patronage built around Nakhichevanis and Yerazi clan groups<ref name=e4>, International Crisis Group, September 22, 2004, ''Accessed Dec. 14, 2006''.</ref>. | |||
| The leader of the Yeraz clan is Jalal Aliyev, uncle of Azeri President ]<ref name=e1>Philip Stephens, , ''Financial Times'', October 28, 2005, ''Accessed Dec. 14, 2006''.</ref>. Ramiz Mehtiev, the head of the President's Executive Body, is another prominent member.<ref name=e5>, Europe Report N°156, International Crisis Group, May 12, 2004, ''Accessed Dec. 14, 2006''.</ref> Before Jalal Aliyev, the unofficial leader of the Yerazi was ], a co-founder of the ruling ] and the former Health Minister of Azerbaijan for 12 years. Insanov and influential bureaucrat ] were considered among the most powerful members of the Yerazi clan until they were sacked by President Ilham Aliyev for corruption before the November 2005 parliamentary elections.<ref name=e3>Ben Wetherall, , Global Insight, ''Accessed Dec. 14, 2006''.</ref><ref>Rovshan Ismayilov, , Eurasianet, October 20, 2005, ''Accessed Dec. 14, 2006''.</ref> | |||
| The Yeraz have two non-political movements: Ağrıdağ (Azerbaijani name of Ararat) and the Yerevan Unity (Azeri: ''İrəvan Birliyi'').<ref name=e5>, Europe Report N°156, International Crisis Group, May 12, 2004, ''Accessed Dec. 14, 2006''.</ref> Originally founded by Insanov, Ağrıdağ acted as a vehicle to spread the clan's influence at the national level, particularly over the country's health system.<ref name=e3>Ben Wetherall, , Global Insight, ''Accessed Dec. 14, 2006''.</ref> | |||
| ==See also== | |||
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| ==Notes== | |||
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