ARMENIA
- Current Issues
- Country Background, Politics & Law
- Human Rights Issues
- Security, Humanitarian Issues and Protection Related Issues
- Nagorno-Karabakh
Human Rights Issues
06.03.2007 - Source: US Department of State
Approximately 1,000 Muslims reside in Yerevan ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2006") [ID 20219]
"Approximately one thousand Muslims resided in the capital. There was no formally operating mosque, although one surviving 18th century mosque in the capital remained open for Friday prayers without government interference, though it was not officially registered"
Document(s):
Open document
08.03.2006 - Source: US Department of State
Muslims can conduct Friday prayers in Yerevan mosque although it is not officially registered ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2005") [#46111], [ID 17095]
"The few Muslims who remained in the country after the Nagorno‑Karabakh conflict kept a low profile. Approximately one thousand Muslims resided in the capital. There was no formally operating mosque, although one surviving 18th century mosque in the capital remained open for Friday prayers without government interference, although it was not officially registered."
Document(s):
Open document
28.02.2005 - Source: US Department of State
Approximately 1,000 Muslims reside in Yerevan ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2004") [#29491], [ID 3133]
"As a result of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Azerbaijan, most of the country's Muslim Azeri population had left by 1991. The few remaining Muslims in the country kept a low profile. There was no formally operating mosque, although one surviving 18th century mosque in the capital remained open for Friday prayers. Although it was not registered as a religious facility, the Government did not create any obstacles for Muslims who wished to pray there. Approximately 1,000 Muslims resided in the capital."
Document(s):
Open document
31.03.2003 - Source: US Department of State
As a result of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Azerbaijan, most of the country's Muslim population was forced to leave the country ("Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2002") [#11840], [ID 3134]
"As a result of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Azerbaijan, most of the country's Muslim population was forced to leave the country. Anti-Muslim feeling persisted among the populace, and the few remaining Muslims in the country kept a low profile. There was no formally operating mosque, although Yerevan's one surviving 18th century mosque, which was restored with Iranian funding, was in practice open for regular Friday prayers on a tenuous legal basis. Although it was not registered as a religious facility, the Government did not create any obstacles for Muslims who wished to pray there."
Document(s):
Open document
28.11.2002 - Source: Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation
There has been no report of difficulties in practicing Islam mostly because of the tiny number of the Muslim population ("8th European Country of Origin Information Seminar Vienna, 28 - 29 June 2002: Final Report - Armenia - co-funded by the EU Odysseus Programme") [#9877], [ID 3135]
"There has been no report of difficulties in practicing Islam mostly because of the tiny
number of the Muslim population. There is a mosque in Yerevan, but it is mostly for
Iranians residing in Armenia. Azeris tend to keep a low profile and therefore would not
attend a mosque but one can conjecture that they practice their faith in private.
However, there is no concrete information on whether Islam is actually practised or to
which extent it is practised. On the other hand, in the area around Lake Sevan, where
many Azeris had been living before the conflict most Muslim cemeteries are damaged
and destroyed, with only a few of them remaining intact. Yet again, there is no
information on whether and how Azeris or other Muslims in Armenia are currently
carrying out religious ceremonies, including burials."
Document(s):
Arm-cois2002-rep.pdf
