Avzrog

Coordinates: 36°56′33.9″N 42°37′46.1″E / 36.942750°N 42.629472°E / 36.942750; 42.629472

Avzruk (Arabic: أفزروك‎‎, Syriac: ܐܒܙܪܘܓ‎, Kurdish: Avzarok‎) is a village in the Iraqi Kurdistan province of Dohuk and is 30 km from Zakho. Avzrog has a total population of about 350 people and is located in the Sulaivany area in the western part of Dohuk. The Sulaivany area is situated between Sumail and the mountains south of Zakho.

The village is composed of two parts, the largest being that of the Armenians known as Avzruk Miri and the other of Assyrians, known as Avzruk Sheno^[1] and is 10 km away from the Armenian village.^[2] The Armenian inhabitants speak Kurdish rather than Armenian whilst the Assyrian people speak Aramaic. All the people are Armenian Orthodox.

Etymology

The name of the village comes from the Kurdish language; av means water and zrog - yellow.

History

The village of Avzrog was founded in 1932 when Armenians from Zakho and its suburbs decided to establish the village and settle in it. In 1975 The village was destroyed as a part of the arabisation policy of Saddam Hussein’s regime and the Armenians were forced to flee. The land was then resettled by Arab tribes. After The 1991 Gulf War, the town was repopulated with Armenians and the Arab tribes who resettled the village were driven out, and later on in 2001 the local St Vartans church was rebuilt.^[3] Although they are Armenian, the inhabitants of Avzrog don't speak Armenian- they speak Kurdish. Despite this, Armenians in Avzrog maintain their Armenian social identity like folklore, religion and names.^[4][5]

See also

• Armenians in Iraq
• Assyrians in Iraq

References