Garalar is a village in the Iravan uezd of the former Iravan governorate, later in the former Vedi (Ararat) district, and currently in the Ararat province. The provincial centre lies 10 km to the southeast of the town of Gamarli (Artashat), adjacent to the Vedi River, at a height of 850 m above sea level. It was marked on the five-verst map of the Caucasus.

The village was inhabited by 443 Azerbaijanis in 1873, 387 in 1886, 570 in 1897, 252 in 1904, 256 in 1914 and 546 Azerbaijanis in 1916 . However, the “Dictionary of Toponyms of Armenia and Surrounding Provinces” distorts these facts and shows that the village was inhabited by Armenians, not Azerbaijanis in 1873–1916. In 1918–1919 the Azerbaijanis were massacred and expelled by Armenian armed forces, and the Armenians relocated from Iran in late 1920, from the Van, Shatakh and Bayazid provinces of Türkiye in 1920–1921, from Ashaghi Garanlig (Martuni) and Sisian districts of present-day Armenia in 1940–1950, and from Iran and Lebanon in 1946, were settled in the Garalar village. Following the establishment of Soviet power in present-day Armenia in 1920, the surviving Azerbaijanis managed to return to the village. The village was inhabited by 241 Azerbaijanis and 273 Armenians in 1922, 280 Azerbaijanis and 252 Armenians in 1926, 297 Azerbaijanis and 292 Armenians in 1931, and 780 Azerbaijanis in 1939. In accordance with the Decision of the USSR Council of Ministers “On the resettlement of collective farmers and other Azerbaijani population from the Armenian SSR to the Kur-Araz lowland of the Azerbaijan SSR” dated 23 December 1947, the Azerbaijani population of the village was forcibly deported to Azerbaijan. Some of the deportees were later able to return to their native village. The village was inhabited by 1,181 Azerbaijanis and Armenians in 1955, 1,794 Azerbaijanis and Armenians in 1970, and 1,942 Azerbaijanis and Armenians in 1979. In November-December 1988, the Azerbaijanis were deported from their historical and ethnic lands by the Armenian government. Currently, the village is inhabited only by Armenians.

The toponym was coined on the basis of the Turkic ethnonym “Garalar”.

By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR dated 25 January 1978, the village was renamed “Aralez”. According to the law “On the administrative-territorial division of the Republic of Armenia” dated 7 November 1995, it was integrated into the administrative territory of the Ararat province.

Geographical coordinates: latitude: 39°54’ N., longitude: 44°39’ E.