Editing Yerevan (section)

===Aq Qoyunlu and Kara Koyunlu tribes===
{{See also|Kara Koyunlu}}
[[File:Argavand Tower Back.JPG|thumb|upright|The [[Mausoleum of Kara Koyunlu emirs]] in [[Argavand, Ararat|Argavand]], near Yerevan]]
During the last quarter of the 14th century, the [[Aq Qoyunlu]] Sunni [[Oghuz Turks|Oghuz Turkic]] tribe took over Armenia, including Yerevan. In 1400, [[Timur]] invaded Armenia and Georgia, and captured more than 60,000 of the survived local people as slaves. Many districts including Yerevan were depopulated.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://rbedrosian.com/atmi4.htm |title=The Turco-Mongol Invasions |publisher=Rbedrosian.com |access-date=2012-05-22 |archive-date=22 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722083934/http://rbedrosian.com/atmi4.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1410, Armenia fell under the control of the [[Kara Koyunlu]] Shia Oghuz Turkic tribe. According to the Armenian historian [[Thomas of Metsoph]], although the Kara Koyunlu levied heavy taxes against the Armenians, the early years of their rule were relatively peaceful and some reconstruction of towns took place.<ref>Kouymjian, Dickran (1997), "Armenia from the Fall of the Cilician Kingdom (1375) to the Forced Migration under Shah Abbas (1604)" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times, Volume II: Foreign Dominion to Statehood: The Fifteenth Century to the Twentieth Century'', ed. [[Richard G. Hovannisian]], New York: St. Martin's Press, p. 4. {{ISBN|1-4039-6422-X}}.</ref> The Kara Koyunlus made Yerevan the centre of the newly formed ''Chukhur Saad'' administrative territory. The territory was named after a Turkic leader known as ''Emir Saad''.

However, this peaceful period was shattered with the rise of [[Qara Iskander]] between 1420 and 1436, who reportedly made Armenia a "desert" and subjected it to "devastation and plunder, to slaughter, and captivity".<ref>Kouymjian. "Armenia", p. 4.</ref> The wars of Iskander and his eventual defeat against the [[Timurid Empire|Timurids]], invited further destruction in Armenia, as many more Armenians were taken captive and sold into slavery and the land was subjected to outright pillaging, forcing many of them to leave the region.<ref name="Kouymjian. Armenia, p. 5">Kouymjian. "Armenia", p. 5.</ref>

Following the fall of the [[Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia]] in 1375, the seat of the Armenian Church was transferred from [[Sis (ancient city)|Sis]] back to [[Vagharshapat]] near Yerevan in 1441. Thus, Yerevan became the main economic, cultural and administrative centre in Armenia.