Armenia’s Yezidi community is forming a second volunteer soldier detachment to replace the guys of the first group now fighting in Artsakh.

Hetq recently spoke with Rustam Bakoyan, a My Step (Im Kayl) Yezidi MP in the Armenian National Assembly, who coordinates the Yezidi volunteer detachments and aid supplies to Artsakh.

"We are full citizens of the Republic of Armenia and thus fulfill our duty as such. Secondly, this is our country, our ancestors shed blood here, starting in Sardarapat, the 1990s Karabakh War and the 2016. April War. Do you think we are a flower in the upper field that should sit back and let the Armenians do the fighting? This land is also ours. We must fight for every inch of land at the cost of blood, at the cost of our lives," he said.

Bakoyan also coordinates aid deliveries received from the Yezidi community living in Armenia and abroad.

The MP said that four UAZ ambulances had already been handed over to the Ministry of Defense. They’ve also collected money, medicines, and other essential items for soldiers at the front. The Yezidi community will soon send warm clothes as well.

"What we get is quickly sent to make way for the next batch," Bakoyan said, adding the bulk of the aid comes from Yezidis who once lived in Armenia or their children now living overseas.

 He noted that there is widespread support from the Yezidis of Iraq, Syria and Turkey. Bakoyan says they support the Yezidis of Armenia and not only provide material support but also attend protests abroad in solidarity with Artsakh.

Recalling the 1915 Genocide to show the connection between the Armenian and Yezidi nations, Bakoyan said that the Yezidis of Sinjar, according to various sources, gave shelter to 6,00-20,000 thousand Armenians when they were forcibly marched to the deserts of Deir Zor.

"Just imagine, the overseas Yezidis know the Armenians better than us. Our position regarding Armenians dates to the beginning of the 20th century, maybe even before that," says Bakoyan.

The MP tells Hetq that Yezidis active in the political, social and business spheres abroad, with whom Armenia’s Yezidis are in active contact, are using their leverage to speak out against Azerbaijani-Turkish aggression.

Bakoyan is in touch with Nadia Murad, the Iraqi Yezidi human rights activist who won the Noble Peace Prize in 2018, with Denis Mukwege, "for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict".

Murad, appointed the UNODC Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking in 2016, was kidnapped in her hometown of Kocho, in Iraq’s Sinjar District and held by the Islamic State for three months.

 Bakoyan also communicates with former Yezidi members of the European Parliament so that they can influence the decisions of politicians in their countries.

"We have explained the situation to all. That Azerbaijani-Turkish aggression is being carried out against us, against the civilian population. Now, they are using their leverage to deliver such information to the relevant structures," Bakoyan added.

Photo from Rustam Bakoyan's FB page