“Our homeland is Yaghdan”. How does the Greek-populated village face the migration?

The community of Yaghdan in Lori region is known as a populated by Greek people. Here the Greeks were established in the 18th century, when some of the Greeks who moved from Western Armenia preferred Yaghdan instead of staying in Akhtala. Today Yaghdan tries to Resist Migration …

Aram Janjughazyan, head of the  administrative district says that in time the village had more than 1,000 Greeks. Today, about 10 percent of the 250 inhabitants of the village are Greeks. “Living and working in this village for 20 years, never felt the difference between the Armenian and the Greeks. The Armenian nation says that Armenians and Greeks do not differ from one another, they are always warm and mixed marriages are normal here.

Gorgiadis Giorgis was born and lived in Yoghad. His wife is an Armenian and they have two sons. When in 1992 all of them went from Yaghdan to Greece, Gorgius was one of them. However, living in Greece for 26 years, in 2017, returned to his homeland. The sons have decided they will not leave Armenia again.

There is no kindergarten in Yaghdan, the children spend their free time in the playground on the village administration building. There is a 9-year school. Here are 34 pupils and mostly two-tiered classes. Education is provided to children in Armenian, but the teacher invited from the neighboring community for those wishing, conducting extracurricular activities in Greek.

Despite the prevalence of Armenians, the village continues to preserve the tradition of centuries. The Greek Easter is celebrated every year by the whole village. Many years have passed, nobody remembers that once they wanted to change the name of Yaghdan, it is no longer discussed.

Armine Gevorgyan

PS – The material was prepared by the United Nations Population Fund in the lobby of the Lori region communities.