Yerkrapah


Yerkrapah Volunteer Union or Yerkrapah Union of Veterans, meaning Defenders of the Land, is a non-governmental group that consisted of 6,000 Nagorno-Karabakh War veterans, formed by Vazgen Sargsyan. The Yerkrapah is a large and influential veteran group. The Yerkrapah Union was actively involved in the Nagorno-Karabakh War although after the death of Sargsyan, Yerkrapah began to decline in support in politics. Yerkrapah had incorporated between 5,000 and 30,000 veterans. According to Thomas de Waal, after 1994 "the veterans' group Yerkrapah became the most powerful organization in the country."

Yerkrapah Day

Yerkrapah Day is a professional holiday for all members of Yerkrapah, celebrated annually in Armenia on 8 May. The official status of Yerkrapah Day holiday was conceived after the entry of a law which President Robert Kocharyan signed on 6 January 2001 and which the Parliament of Armenia approved on 24 July that year. It is associated with Shushi Liberation Day. Yerkrapah Day is not a non-working day if, depending on the year, it does not fall on a weekend.