Many Yazidis came to the Russian Empire ( now the territory of Armenia and Georgia ) during the 19th and early 20th centuries to escape religious persecution , as they were oppressed by the Ottoman Turks and the Sunni Kurds who tried to convert them to Islam . The Yazidis were massacred alongside the Armenians during the Armenian Genocide , causing many to flee to Russian-held parts of Armenia . The first ever Yazidi school was opened in Armenia in 1920
Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
Yazidis in Armenia