“I am Hovhannes Khoroz, a British-Armenian. I live in London, but my roots are from Armavir. I am 22 years old and I represent the diasporan Armenians who want to repatriate, train, and prepare our country for all challenges and future clashes so that we are never forced to be in this situation again. Us diasporan youth are no different from the soldiers who gave their lives. The blood in our veins is the same,” Hovhannes told Aravot Daily as he asked the country’s authorities to read his plea. According to him, he and thousands of other diasporan Armenians are prepared to return, prepare, and build our country.
“Although I do not consume social media often, I was completely disappointed and, being in a situation where I did not know whom to turn to, I started the Diaspora Return Movement, which gained more than 5,000 views in less than 24 hours.”
According to Hovhannes, many people wrote to him saying that they will 100% return to Armenia to train if it can be implemented. He said that approximately two years before this war, he started the process of obtaining Armenian citizenship so that he could serve his country and be prepared to defend our land. “The battle took place two years later and I remained a bystander since my application was not accepted. Or, perhaps, it is still being processed. My journey to receiving Armenian citizenship was long and tedious. I am happy to share all the obstacles I faced since I hope that, after sharing these truths, a new and improved system will be created to make the process easier. I read that at most 400 men were defending Shushi. If the process for the diaspora’s repatriation were more organized and if I were allowed to train over the past 2 years, I would’ve been the 401st person to defend Shushi. After using social media, I have found many, many people across the world who have faced the same difficulties as I did. We are ready. We are ready to return to our Motherland and serve our country.”
According to Hovhannes, mechanisms need to be implemented that will make the process of repatriation for diasporan Armenians to be much smoother. “We are ready to come home. Please, help us to help Yerevan. We were unable to help Artsakh, but it is not too late to prepare for the worst, which is, unfortunately, waiting for us.”
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