Until the 19th century, kochari was danced only by older men. And when the dance lost its ritual significance and became commonplace, women also began to dance it.

Interestingly, on November 28, 2018, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Agency, UNESCO’s Commission for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, at its 13th session, registered the Yalli dance as intangible cultural heritage in need of immediate protection. It was registered under the following name: “Yalli (kochari, tenzere), traditional collective dances of Nakhchivan”.

This event received a great response in Armenia. In particular, the director of the Center for the Study of Western Armenian Issues, Armenian scholar Haykazun Alvrtsyan, criticized the current and former ministers of culture for allowing such a thing to happen.