Aravot.am asked ethnographer Artashes Boyajyan, which are the countries that have the largest Armenian community, and the Armenians of which country are able to influence on the government authorities of given country for creating an Armenophile posture. Artashes Boyajyan states that by various calculations, the number of Armenians around the world ranges from 10-15 million, although, according to our interlocutor, the number is too high than this. The ethnographer mentioned that almost 4 million of them live in Russia. The number of Armenians in Russia is officially 2.5 million while non-officially, it amounts to almost 4 million, given the number of Armenians migrated from Georgia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.
“The number of Armenians in Russia today is more than in Armenia. Armenians make a large number in Turkmenistan and Tajikistan, which is not thoroughly studied, but most of them have left for Russian Federation. The second state of Armenians by the number of population is the United States, where the official number of Armenians is more than 1.5 million. The third state is France. In other words, these are the top three states where the Armenian community makes a big number. The influence of the Armenian community in these three states or let’s say, the bond with the homeland is strong. Armenians make a big number in Argentina, Lebanon, Iran Islamic Republic, and Syria, where now for well-known reasons their number has been significantly reduced. The number of Armenians in the Republic of Georgia during the Soviet years was over 500 thousand, in other words, Armenians made 10-15 percent of the population of Georgia, now, this number has dropped reaching to 1-2%. Armenians of Russia, the USA, Georgia, Syria, Lebanon, and Iran have very close connections with the homeland.”
Our interlocutor thinks that the Armenians living in Russian help their homeland mostly and are economically active. “The most influential is the Armenians in Russia, both in sending money and helping with transfers, etc. The Armenians in Russia have more influence on our country than the Armenian community living in other countries. In some parts of Russia, the Armenian community is much more organized. The Armenian community in Russia showed a great assistance on combat actions. The Armenian that can remain Armenia is in Russia, while in the United States and France, you do not know what will happen to Armenians some 50 years later. They say that the US is a country of homeland forgetters. The US-based Armenian community provides less assistance, while it is presented on TV and other media that its material influence is great. Russia’s Armenians’ assistance and intervention in our lives are much greater and invisible,” – opines Artashes Boyajyan.
To our observation that Armenians in Russian do not have so much influence to affect Russia’s political decisions in favor of Armenians to some extent, for example, cannot prevent in any way the sale of weapons by Russia to Azerbaijan, or at least ensure that this number is reduced, our interlocutor noted the major superpowers have their own geopolitical interests.
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According to Artashes Boyajyan, we need to be realistic. If the Russian government has found it appropriate to sell weapons, it is a politics. “If for example, the United States does not sell arms to Azerbaijan, although this is still a question, but even if it does not sell, it does not mean that it is due to the influence of the Armenian community. The same for Israel, which is No. 1 ally to the US and cannot undertake such an initiative on this without the United States, sells weapons to Azerbaijan. The same for Turkey, which is an ally to the US, sells weapons. Here, being an ally is not so essential and important, today, Turkey is an ally to the US but is selling weapons to the Kurds, while the Kurds are an enemy with the Turks. Weapons market is such a thing that every country strives to have a place in this market,” – says our interlocutor.
Nune AREVSHATYAN
