Yezidis’ religious leader due in Armenia

The religious leader of the Yezidis, Mir Mira Tahsin beg, is starting a visit to Yerevan on September 27.

He will be accompanied by prelacy representatives, as well as members of the Kurdish and Iraqi parliament, Amo Sharoyan, the president of the Yezidis’ NGO Midia Shangal, told a news conference on Saturday.

According to him, the delegation will include around 50 ethnic Yezidi businessmen and benefactors from Russia and Ukraine. They are scheduled to attend the consecration of the first ever Yezidi place of warship in Armenia.

“This can be considered a historical event as no religious leader visited Armenia for about 100 years. The current prelate’s grandfather, Ismail Beg, was the last to visit the country,” Sharoyan said, adding construction situated in Armavir province has be built thanks to donations by Moscow based Yezid benefactors.

Sharoyan said that the Yezid prelate will visit Yerevan’s Tsitsernakaberd memorial to pay respect to the Genocide victims, and later meet Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II and Armenian senior officials.

On September 30, the Yezid community members will gather in Yerevan’s Moscow Cinema for a meeting with their religious leader.

“Different questions relating to the nation’s survival, its higher cultural level and relations with other nations will be discussed. The Yezidis residing in Armenia will, after a 100-year interval, have a new opportunity to meet their religious leader,” he said, further stressing the importance of maintaining ties with Yezid businessmen to attract more investments in the country.