19.09.2008 - Source: US Department of State

There are small communities of religious groups, who constitute less than 5 percent of the population ("International Religious Freedom Report 2008") [ID 24786]

"There are small communities of other religious groups. There was no reliable census data on religious minorities, and estimates from congregants varied significantly. These groups constitute less than 5 percent of the population and include Roman Catholics, Armenian Uniate (Mekhitarist) Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Armenian Evangelical Christians, Molokans, Pentecostals, Seventh-day Adventists, Baptists, various groups of charismatic Christians, Jehovah's Witnesses, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), Yezidis (non-Muslim Kurds who practice Yezidism), Jews, Sunni Muslim Kurds, Shi'ite Muslims, Baha'is, and others. Yezidis are concentrated primarily in agricultural areas around Mount Aragats, northwest of Yerevan. Armenian Catholics live mainly in the north, while most Jews, Mormons, Baha'is, and Orthodox Christians reside in Yerevan, along with a small community of mostly Shi'ite Muslims, including Iranians, and temporary residents from the Middle East."

Document(s): Open document

19.09.2008 - Source: US Department of State

Newspapers published anti-Semitic accusations against former president and current opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrossian ("International Religious Freedom Report 2008") [ID 24793]

"In May and June 2008, the progovernment Hayots Ashkhar and Golos Armenii daily newspapers published anti-Semitic and anti-Masonic accusations against former president and current opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrossian. Local observers viewed the inflammatory articles as attempts to portray the opposition leader as a traitor to the country and stir up anti-Semitic sentiment in a country traditionally known for its welcoming attitude toward Jews. On June 1, 2008, the state-operated H1 public television channel broadcast a 10-minute segment on its weekly 360 Degrees news magazine program, the sole focus of which appeared to be to disparage and undermine the opposition. The footage incorporated the anti-Semitic and anti-Masonic attacks by Hayots Ashkhar and Golos Armenii. On February 27, 2008, H1's news program presented coverage of a post-presidential election opposition rally, focusing primarily on an Israeli flag--one of many nations' flags in the crowd--with the intention of vilifying Ter-Petrossian, whose wife is Jewish. [...] On December 17, 2007, Jewish community members discovered a small swastika drawn on the Hebrew side of the 14-month-old Joint Tragedies Memorial. The Jewish community dismissed the incident as a random act."

Document(s): Open document

19.09.2008 - Source: US Department of State

Yerevan: In the days prior to the February 2008 presidential election, an anonymous antiopposition organisation distributed a digital video disk that used anti-Semitic claims ("International Religious Freedom Report 2008") [ID 24800]

"In the days prior to the February 2008 presidential election, an anonymous antiopposition organization distributed a digital video disk in Yerevan that used anti-Semitic claims, epithets, and innuendo against Ter-Petrossian, the leading opposition candidate. The allegations cast aspersions on the candidate's Jewish wife and alleged that the candidate was collaborating with the Israeli Government and others in a "Zionist plot" to undermine the state. Some of the contents of the digital video disk were shown on a private television channel that has a national viewing audience."

Document(s): Open document

14.09.2007 - Source: US Department of State

Jewish community reported no incidents of verbal harassment ("International Religious Freedom Report 2007") [ID 21096]

"The Jewish community reported no incidents of verbal harassment during the reporting period. In the summer and fall of 2006, a number of spray-painted swastikas of unknown origin, accompanied by the words "No Arabs," "Sieg Heil," and "Russians out of our country," were observed on kiosks and construction site walls in downtown Yerevan; the symbols appeared to express general xenophobia."

Document(s): Open document

06.03.2007 - Source: US Department of State

Jewish community's size estimated at between 500 and 1,000 persons; no reports of harassment of Jews during the year ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2006") [ID 20218]

"On October 27, the Jewish community, with assistance from the government and other groups, unveiled a new Holocaust memorial to replace the old one that had been vandalized earlier in the year.
Jewish community leaders estimated the community's size at between 500 and 1,000 persons (the government does not provide official figures for religious adherents), but unlike in 2005, leaders of the Jewish community said that they had no reports of harassment of Jews during the year.
In September the environment minister, Vardan Ayvazian, publicly referred to representatives of a foreign mining company during a press conference as "kikes."
There were no reports that individuals or groups distributed anti‑Semitic literature."

Document(s): Open document

08.03.2006 - Source: US Department of State

Jewish comunity estimated at between 500 and 1,000 persons; several inicdents of verbal harassment reported ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2005") [#46111],  [ID 15836]

"The government does not provide official figures for religious adherents, but Jewish community leaders estimated the community's number at between 500 and 1 thousand. The Jewish community reported several incidents of verbal harassment during the year, but that such incidents had decreased from previous years."

Document(s): Open document

08.03.2006 - Source: US Department of State

Politician of Union of Armenian Aryans convicted for inciting public hostility by remarks against Jews and Yezidis ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2005") [#46111],  [ID 17093]

"The director of ALM TV frequently made anti-Semitic remarks on the air, and the Union of Armenian Aryans, a small, ultranationalist group, called for the country to be "purified" of Jews and Yezidis (see section 5). Union of Armenian Aryans leader Armen Avetisyan told a newspaper in January that Jewish communities endangered the future of the nation.On March 18, a Yerevan court found him guilty of inciting public hostility and issued a three-year suspended sentence."

Document(s): Open document

28.02.2005 - Source: US Department of State

Incidents of verbal harassment and vandalism against Jews; distribution of anti-Semitic literature ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2004") [#29491],  [ID 3074]

"The Jewish community reported several incidents of verbal harassment during the year. The director of ALM TV frequently made anti-Semitic remarks on the air, and the Union of Armenian Aryans, a small, ultranationalist group, called for the country to be "purified" of Jews and Yezidis.

In May, Jewish groups complained to government authorities about the distribution of anti-Semitic literature. Authorities said the imported literature apparently violated the Law on Distributing Literature Inflaming National Hatred and recommended that the groups file a complaint with the Prosecutor General's office. However, neither police nor Jewish groups were able to identify the importers, and Jewish leaders had not taken any formal action by year's end.

On September 17, offices of the Jewish community in Yerevan received a message that vandals had damaged the local memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. Several photographs of the memorial were taken, and the vandalism was reported immediately to the local police, the Ministry of Religious Affairs, and the government-owned television channel. A television crew arrived at the site together with an official from the Jewish community in Yerevan and discovered that the memorial had been wiped clean, apparently by the park guard. There was no further investigation into the incident."

Document(s): Open document

29.01.2005 - Source: EurasiaNet

Recent rise in anti-Semitic propaganda reported ("Armenia’s Jews alarmed over nascent anti-Semitism") [#28773],  [ID 3137]

Document(s): Open document

26.01.2005 - Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Jewish community concerned by mounting anti-Semitism; anti-Jewish propaganda and desecration of Holocaust memorial in Yerevan increased during the last year; according to cabinet minister ethnic and religious discrimination does not exist in Armenia ("Armenia: Country’s Jews Alarmed Over Nascent Anti-Semitism") [#28593],  [ID 3138]

Document(s): Open document

10.2002 - Source: Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe

The Jewish community in Armenia is numerically insignificant ("The Ethnic Minorities of Armenia") [#9856],  [ID 3075]

"The Kurdish Jews that settled in Yerevan, counted 924 by the census of 1897. By that time there
was a synagogue in Yerevan. Later the community relocated to Georgia.
The fuzzy criteria of ethnic affiliation trivialize the subject of determining the precise number of
Jews residing in Armenia today, however, the 1989 census puts it at 676.
The community is numerically insignificant, perhaps a few hundred people now, mostly scientists
and engineers who had arrived from Russia, Belarus and other areas of USSR, some had settled in
Armenia through mixed marriages. Many a Jewish woman has joined an Armenian man in
matrimony. Most live in the capital city.
Despite the negligible number of the community, activities of the Jewish NGOs are very
vigorous, and the synagogue is functioning."

Document(s): Open document