“The Ministry of Diaspora carried out activities that other ministries also carried out. I am referring to educational and cultural activities. From the perspective of diasporan relations, important activities were not being carried out,” Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said during a parliament session regarding the dissolvement of the Ministry of Diaspora while presenting the government’s plan.
According to him, the new Armenian government does not plan to have a Ministry of Diaspora, but instead it intends to have a High Commissioner of Diaspora Affairs in the Prime Minister’s staff, who will organize relations with the Diaspora, regulate the other ministries’ activities with the Diaspora, and who will uphold the high level of relations between Armenia and the Diaspora.
According to Nikol Pashinyan, the government has brought forth a revolutionary problem with the Diaspora. “It may seem surprising, but we do not have a map of the Diaspora’s potential yet. We do not know what sort of environment and opportunities the Diaspora has to be influential in different countries. There is a point to create a pan-Armenian network within the government’s plan, which will include summarized information about the Diaspora’s potential. The other problem whose solution is tied to challenges is to create a united structure to represent the Diaspora.”
Luiza Sukiasyan
