Russian language getting expelled from Armenia
By Rashid Shirinov
A new wave of discussions on the status of the Russian language has recently begun in Armenia.
It is worth recalling that in September this year, the Minister of Education and Science of Armenia Levon Mkrtchyan said: “The Armenian language is and will remain the only state language in Armenia, since we are an independent, sovereign state. This is an axiomatic truth, all other languages are foreign.” At the same time, he noted that when young people in Armenia enter higher education institutions, they take exams in English, French, German, Spanish or Italian on the subject “foreign language.” There is no Russian among these languages, so the applicants cannot take an exam on Russian language.
Thus the question arises what is the status of the Russian language in Armenia if it is neither the state language nor foreign? This language is in fact dying out in Armenia due to the regular growth of anti-Russian sentiments in the country.
For example, the Front for the State of Armenia organization has recently made a statement demanding to suspend the broadcast license of several Russian TV channels in Armenia. Previously, there were protests in Yerevan, where the participants carried slogans containing insults to Russia, its president and people.
The reason for such negative sentiments of Armenians against Russia is obvious. Their country has long lost almost all attributes of independence. Its leading enterprises were given to Russia for Armenia’s debts, its border with Turkey is guarded by Russian border guards, and in general, Armenia conducts its foreign policy in a way as not to disappoint Russia. Also, many Russian politicians of different levels have repeatedly called Armenia “the outpost of Russia in the Caucasus.”
In this regard, many Armenians are unhappy with the fact that their country is, in fact, in a slave position. However, this is not the fault of Russia, since the Armenian authorities, unable to conduct a correct and sustainable domestic and foreign policy, themselves decided to be dependent on another country. Therefore, Armenians would better make all claims to their authorities, as expulsion of the Russian language from Armenia will not help matters.
---
Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz