There are events taking place in Gyumri in honor of the 100th anniversary of Poland’s independence. The Polish embassy in Armenia and the Polish Union in Gyumri- Polonia- have organized the events. Gyumri’s Polish community are participating in the events.
The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Poland to Armenia, Pawel Cieplak, spoke to reporters about the events celebrating both Armenia’s and Poland’s 100th anniversary of independence. “There are many similarities in Armenian and Polish history. There are many countries in Europe that became independent- Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, the Czech Republic- but it is not solely independence that unites Armenians and Poles. Independence is an important element, but it is not the only one; religion and culture are important as well. I think that Armenia has been a couple thousand years away from civilization and Poland was a couple hundred years away from it. I am happy that this year celebrates the 650th anniversary of the Armenian community in Poland, and I am proud that 650 years have gone by. An exhibition was organized in the Polish parliament in honor of this. An agreement was signed between Ara Babloyan and Marshal of the Polish Senate Stanislaw Karczewski, and the exhibition is currently taking place in parliament.”
Speaking about the Armenians living in Poland, the ambassador said, “We can separate the Armenian immigration to Poland into three different waves. The first wave took place before 1795, the second was sent by the Russian tsar in the 19th century, and the newest wave took place after the collapse of the Soviet Union. There are more than 40 thousand Armenians in Poland.”
Regarding the economic inventory turnover between Poland and Armenia, the ambassador said, “Sadly, it is very small. It has never crossed the 100 million dollar mark. We will work to raise the amount of turnover.”
Nune Arevshatyan
