On August 22-24, Days of the Armenians of Peria region of Iran were held in Yerevan under the initiative of the RA Ministry of Diaspora, the Diocesan Council of the Armenian Diocese of Tehran and the Krtasirats Union of Fereydan (Peria) of Tehran.

“Hayern Aysor”’s correspondent sat down for an interview with President of the “Krtasirats” Union of Peria of Tehran Gaspar Amirkhanian to discuss the goals of the program and the Peria region.

Gaspar Amirkhanian: The “Krtasirats” Union of Peria was established in 1928 in New Julfa by Priest Hovakim Barseghian with the purpose of supporting education in Peria region.

The goal was to build schools in the villages and send teachers to those schools. In 1938, the Union build quite a lot of schools in different villages across the Peria region.

At the time, there were 30 Armenian villages in Peria. The number of Armenian villages gradually decreased and went down to 23. In 1946, the residents of 8 villages immigrated to Armenia. When immigration stopped, some remained in the village, while others moved to New Julfa, Tehran and other cities.

Immigration continued in the 1960s and 1970s, after which the villages were gradually emptied of Armenians.

Today, there are nearly 20-25 Armenian families in the Boloran village of Peria. The people in the other villages have preserved the homes of their ancestors as villas.

Today, the Armenians of Peria are dispersed across the globe. There are quite a lot of Peria-Armenians living in the Armenian cities of Gumri, Hrazdan, Ararat, Artashat and Ashtarak.

There are high-ranking Peria-Armenian clergymen and political figures originally from Peria, but unfortunately, people in Armenia don’t know about Peria and the Peria-Armenians.

The goal of the event called “Days of the Armenians of Peria region of Iran in Armenia” is to be able to make Peria and Peria-Armenians more popular to all Armenians through the publication of historical realities.

“Hayern Aysor”: Mr. Amirkhanian, what sets Peria aside from other regions? How is the Armenian community of Peria different from other Armenian communities in Iran? What are the characteristics?

G. A.: Generally speaking, the Iranian-Armenian community is itself an asset. Armenians have lived in Salmast, Khol, Paytakaran and Tavriz and have preserved their sovereignty for thousands of years.

Armenians have been living in Iran for more than 400 years following the deportations organized by Shah Abbas, but they haven’t assimilated and have managed to preserve their religion and traditions. This itself is an asset. There aren’t many communities like the Armenian community of Peria in the Diaspora. Today, there are French-speaking, Russian-speaking, English-speaking and Turkic-speaking Armenians, but there have never been Persian-speaking Armenians. This is the major asset.

The Armenians of Peria are known for being conventional. It’s not by chance when they say that Peria has been the “Armenia of the Persian-Armenians”. I think this is the best way to describe Peria.

There have been many followers of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Peria. I would like to state an interesting fact. During plowing, Peria-Armenian villagers would sing the song “Surp Etchmiadzin” instead of “Horovel”. This means that the people were emotionally attached to the Homeland, always looked toward Armenia and stayed clung to the Armenian Apostolic Church.

As soon as they had the opportunity 350 years later, they immigrated to the homeland.

“Hayern Aysor”: What historic Armenian heritage exists in Peria today?

G. A.: Armenians have had churches in all the Armenian villages of Peria. Fortunately, our churches are state registered, and some churches are being renovated as historical assets and preserved by the government. Fortunately, the non-Armenians of Peria have great memories of Armenians and treat our holy places as sanctities. From this angle, we are fortunate to have lived with such hospitable people.

Our churches remain standing in several villages, and people go to church on certain occasions like the Vardavar holiday and the Grape Blessing Ceremony (Khaghoghorhnek).

There are very few Armenians in Peria, but the people cherish and preserve the relics as sanctities.

There are relics that have been transferred to Armenia. For instance, the “Gharghuni” manuscript parchment Bible and Shur Ishkhan’s Bible are kept at the Armenian Institute of Ancient Manuscripts (Matenadaran). There was a time when the Shur Ishkhan village was a place of pilgrimage. The Armenians and the Persians believed in the power of the Bible and would make pilgrimages, perform a sacrifice and give each other gifts. As I said, the Bible is currently kept at the Matenadaran. It’s brought out once a year and taken to the Mughni Church where a special ceremony is held with the participation of several Peria-Armenians.

To this day, the Lusahangist Chapel is considered a holy place in Peria. There was a time when the Armenians were pressured to convert. A person by the name of Grigor resisted and was killed. A small chapel was built on his tombstone, and it became a holy place. Even today, many Armenians visit the chapel, and the Persians preserve that place as a sanctuary.

“Hayern Aysor”: Mr. Amirkhanian, you said the goal of the Union was to build schools and carry out educational programs. What is the role of the Union today?

G. A.: Like many unions in the Armenian Diaspora, our union is also mainly involved in carrying out cultural events. However, we also have an important mission. As representatives of the 15^th generation of Peria-Armenians, we are the last ones who were born in the village. If we don’t preserve our traditions and conduct research on them, we’ll lose all the traditions. We organized the event called “Days of the Armenians of Peria region of Iran in Armenia” in order to have it serve as a way to achieve this goal. We hope the Union and the Ministry of Diaspora will be able to organize publications and exhibitions in order to make Peria and the Peria-Armenians popular.

“Hayern Aysor”: Mr. Amirkhanian, you have also met with RA Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan. During the meeting, you also discussed future plans.

G. A.: From now on, the “Days of the Armenians of Peria region of Iran in Armenia” will be held once every two years. The next one will be held in 2016 and will take place in the form of a seminar. There will be speeches and discussions on different issues concerning Peria, and all the speeches will be published.

During the meeting, Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan and I discussed issues on publishing historian Stepanos Yerets’s book “Hangitagirk”. It was written in the 1780s, but unfortunately, it remains as a manuscript to this day. The book was considered lost for a long time. Hovnanyants, who wrote the history of Julfa, accidentally found it in the archives of Julfa, and this made him want to write the history of Julfa. While writing the book “History of New Julfa”, Hovnanyants referred to the book by Stepanos Yerets quite a lot.

A copy of the manuscript is located in the manuscripts section of the monastery in New Julfa, and the other copy is at the Matenadaran.

In closing, I hope journalists and the media in Armenia are able to provide wide coverage of the event and help discover Peria and the Peria-Armenians because there are many Peria-Armenians in Armenia who can present the home of their ancestors, its history and culture in the best way.

Interview by Lusine Abrahamyan