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Does Armenian diaspora need Armenia today?

15 May 2018 16:52 (UTC+04:00)
Does Armenian diaspora need Armenia today?

By Fikret Dolukhanov - Trend:

The new government of Armenia intends to work on large-scale repatriation, RIA Novosti reported May 14, citing Minister of Diaspora Mkhitar Hayrapetyan.

A we can see, Nikol Pashinyan has started to clean up the remains of what Serzh Sargsyan's government left behind, starting with the demographic issue. And there's a lot to be figured out here.

According to official statistics, the population of Armenia is decreasing from year to year. By January 1, 2016, the number of population fell below the mark of three million people for the first time since the 70s of the last century.

Especially significant "contribution" to the case belongs to the Republican Party of Armenia, headed by Serzh Sargsyan. During the 1998-2007 period, 129,300 people left the country, while 307,600 people left Armenia during the rule of the former president (from 2008 to 2015), which is more than 10 percent of the total population of Armenia.

Total migration, however, is not some unreasonable phenomenon. It is caused by an unsatisfactory economic situation which nobody planned to improve in the last decade. Prices in the country do not even grow annually, but monthly, while salaries and pensions do not increase. On the contrary: in recent years, the Armenian authorities have been implementing various penalties and levies.

As Pashinyan himself noted during his speech in the Armenian Parliament on May 8, it seems that the citizens of Armenia do not live to enjoy life, but to be regularly fined and pay for something over and over again.

"We will carry out a large-scale repatriation. This process requires time and vigorous daily work," Hayrapetyan said.

He noted that the victory of the revolution returned hope to the compatriots who had previously left Armenia.

"Many of those, are now returning home. We need to strengthen this process with specific steps," the minister said.

Taking into account all the above, I would like to note that specific steps can mean one thing: to put the country's economy on its feet. Only then repatriation, especially a "large-scale" one,can be discussed. No concrete measures to improve the economy have been taken so far, so before swinging at such grandiose projects, it is necessary to start with the basics, such as elimination of rampant corruption, increase of wages, creation of favorable atmosphere in the country's market and attraction of investments.

On the other hand, it is difficult to talk about attracting foreign investment and improving the market situation in the conditions of closed borders and the permanent threat of war.

Moreover, the more clearly hangs the shadow of war, the the more militant the rhetoric of the authorities becomes and the more soldiers Armenia sends to the front line.

And there are no positive changes in the rhetoric of official Yerevan, as of yet. There is also no sign of Armenian diaspora members' willingness to return to their historical homeland, so that their children would die for the ghost of "Miatsum".

On May 8, the National Assembly of Armenia elected "people's candidate" Nikol Pashinyan as Prime Minister.

Since April 13, protest actions led by the leader of the opposition party "Civil agreement" Pashinyan have been held in Armenia. The opposition marched against the election of former President Serzh Sargsyan to the post of Prime Minister.

A few days later, the opposition announced the beginning of the "velvet revolution". Despite this, the Parliament elected Sargsyan head of the Cabinet, but less than a week later, on April 23, he resigned amid continuing protests.

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