Captivated by the energy and mesmerizing improbability of the Arab Spring, I spent days glued to the BBC’s “live” updates on the uprising in Egypt. I spent hours discussing the issues with colleagues at work, explaining why the mere fact that Arabs had taken to the streets against their governments was heroic and that it would likely end quite badly for the protestors. I was fascinated by the images of young Arab men and women demanding a new future with a pride and defiance I had come to imagine as not possible.
Perhaps like many of us, the Arab Spring did not spring upon me until it hit Egypt. Tunisia is a small country and I thought perhaps Ben Ali did not have as strong a grip on his army and security forces as other Arab states such as Egypt, Libya, Syria, and the Gulf States. After all, having lived in the Middle East myself, I had a fairly strong inkling of the political limitations of citizens living in that region and the way that government structures interferes in all aspects of daily life.
On the surface, the revolutions in the Middle East represented the best aspirations in human nature: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to live one’s life in prosperity without the constant fear of the state. These and more are great, lofty, and certainly worthwhile aspirations for all of us. Even here in the United States, we have spent over 200 years trying to perfect democracy. It is a work in progress. The Arab Spring will lead to many years of uncertainty, mistakes, and probably violence before some semblance of democracy takes hold. History has proven time and time again that no nation escapes these growing pains.
In the initial weeks after the departure of Mubarak, my thoughts still remained with the future of Arabs in the Middle East. Although I had visited Egypt in 2008 and had the pleasure to interact with the Armenian community there, my thoughts did not focus on them. When the iron hit closer to home for me in Syria, that’s when my euphoria began to dissipate. I still have a large extended family in Syria. In discussions with them, a creeping fear began to build in my mind. As with my family, most Armenians settled in the Middle East during the Armenian Genocide. Over the last century we have built strong communities throughout the region. Despite a century of sometimes oppression, sometimes acceptance, and living through other people’s turmoil, these Armenian communities have endured. Will they do so now? If the religious strife rampant in Iraq is any indication of what’s to come after the Arab Spring, I think not.
I am not comparing how Iraq came to be a “democracy” with the nations who are experimenting with the idea now; however, the reality remains that these countries are predominantly Muslim and Arab. The Armenian populations there are very small comparatively speaking to the general populations. Whether the internal conflicts will be between tribes, as is likely in Libya, or sectarian, as is likely in Egypt and Syria, our communities will once again be caught in the middle. As these Arab nations begin the political process towards democracy, Arab nationalism, Islam, and tribal identity will begin to creep in and once again marginalize the Armenian communities.
The fate of the Armenian community in Lebanon is a good example of what is likely to result. After years of trying to cope with the civil war, Lebanese Armenians have abandoned their adopted homelands for Europe, the United States, and Canada. The population of Armenians in Lebanon in 1975 was estimated at 200,000, and has declined to half that number today. In Iraq, before the last war, we had an over 15,000-strong community. Today, by most estimates over 50 percent of that community has left Iraq. Already, these communities have migrated for the most part to Europe or North America. Syria, which has an estimated 80,000 Armenias, and Egypt with an additional 10,000, will also likely see large demographic shifts in the Armenian population over the next couple of years.
In anticipation of the exodus of Armenians from Egypt and Syria, a nagging question has taken over my thoughts regarding their future (a question I am surprised has not been the focus of attention or been given any attention in the Armenian media in both Armenia proper and the diaspora). That is, where will this new wave of wandering Armenians resettle? In the past, Armenians did not have an independent country to call their own. The majority of the population shifts in Iran and Lebanon occurred prior to Armenia’s second independence in 1991. However, today we have a country that all Armenians should be able to call home. A country that should welcome—nay, encourage—its brethren to “return home.”
In addition to the sentimentality of resettling Armenians from the diaspora in Armenia, there is a crucial issue we must consider: The Republic of Armenia itself lost an estimated one million nationals since independence.
Given this seismic shift in population and the endemic issue of the low (if not negative) fertility rate in Armenia, I assumed that the Armenian government would immediately take notice and facilitate the repatriation of Armenians to their homeland. It seems simple, doesn’t it? Our communities in the Middle East will move; Armenia has a major declining population issue: Could both needs be met to some extent by repatriating these Diasporan Armenians home to Armenia?
As the Arab Spring brings about the winter of Armenian communities in the Middle East, the Armenian government seems to have no stance on this issue. There has not been much coverage of the plight of these communities in Armenian papers. The foreign minister has not commented on the current status of these communities. The minister of the diaspora has not communicated any policies related to these diasporan communities. I understand the president is busy “running” Armenia; I understand the foreign minister is busy negotiating away liberated territories in Karabagh; I understand the minister of the diaspora is busy organizing already very well-organized communities in the West; and most of all I understand how repatriating a large number of Armenians who may not stand for the current state of affairs in Armenia is a threat to the current ruling elite. However, should there not come a point where even our current leadership in Armenia understands that according to well-documented research, Armenia will not have enough young men to populate its army in 10 years? Have we not arrived to the realization that without a healthy, growing population, the Republic of Armenia will not endure? What will it take?
The most important resource of any state is its citizens. Armenia needs more citizens, and the Armenians in the Middle East need a new home. The government of Armenia should do the math.
Ani Tchaghlasian
Latest posts by Ani Tchaghlasian (see all)
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- Foie Gras, Force-Feeding and the Madrid Principles - June 3, 2020
- Tchaghlasian: Arab Spring, Armenian Winter? - July 7, 2011
God bless the Bush administration!!!!!
this is all because of the gulf war of invading iraq and afghanistan.
it took courage on america’s part and great sacrifice of army lives.
this is truly a beginning for not just arabs but an entire part of the world!!!
GOD BLESS AMERICA. God bless armenia.
Most Armenians would really like to see such a thing happen : that Diaspora Armenians (if forced to escape the tragic chaos that this Arab “spring” produced) go “home” and fill the population gap created during the last 20 years in Armenia.
Personally having lived long years both in Armenia and in Syria, I think Diaspora Armenians will find it so difficult to survive in Armenia. It’s not a matter of having Armenian citizenship, the real challenge is to survive in the harsh conditions of today’s Armenia, where even the native people (much more robust than Diaspora Armenians) are not able to endure the economical-political injustice. Armenia continues to be emptied from its citizens.
Realistically speaking; I don’t expect this government to open its arms and welcome M.E. Armenians; if it could do something it should have found ways to keep their own people inside.
The exodus of Armenians from Syria happened a while ago Ani. I think rather than worry about being “caught in the middle” and put some illusion of sectarianism which is only being propagated at this point by the Syrian regime and not the Syrian people. Armenians should be encouraged to contribute to their country, as citizens, and to help build a democratic system and become part of it rather than run away. You mentioned Lebanese Armenians, sure there were issues, but the community survived, and no Lebanese today denies that Armenians are integral part of the fabric of Lebanon and today play a large role in the Lebanese politics and society. There is no reason why Syrian Armenians should not do the same. I am Syrian Armenian and I left Syria because there was no freedom and no economic opportunity, not because of “sectarian” issue. I am now a full supporter of this freedom movement in Syria and I recently attended an opposition conference in DC. I actually hope to go back to Syria once this regime falls and help to contribute to building up a democracy in the country which i was born in.
Diaspora organizations can help with any plans to re settle Armenians in Armenia. It would be a much better investment than the current goal of getting various countries to recognize the Armenian genocide. Sadly, I am not holding my breath for this to occur.
As for the Armenian government’s stance on this issue, Armenia has good relations with the Syrian government, and it will not make overt statements that could be seen as anti-Syrian or destabilizing Syria, even if that is not the intended consequence of the statements and/or actions.
Unlike some posters here, not all of us are buying the story that the various anti-government movements across the Middle East are really for democracy and in the actual interest of the local population.
And Ara, you should wake up from your dream if you think the Baby Bush administrations Middle East policies are what caused the recent revolts across the region.
“What can we do, we should do everything so these people won’t flee, so that critical mass remains here and a revolution happens?” – Armenia’s prime minister Tigran Sargsyan in an interview to local daily “168 Zham”, June 26, 2011.
When the authorities are illegitimate and unpopular, the only major thing they fear is anything that would one way or the other affect their clinging to power. The prime minister’s blurt demonstrates that they’d even lose their most precious asset: the people, in order to remain in power.
Armenia’s main problem, the one from which the vast majority of other ills stem from is socio-economic. It is not political as some of you try so hard to make it out to be.
So I have to ask, who or what would replace Serj and co (since they are so unpopular), and turn around the socio-economic situation in Armenia. I’m all ears, and would love to hear a coherent and logical answer free of the typical cliches.
Handling of socio-economic problem is directly dependent upon the legitimacy of the government. Politically unaccountable, illegitimate, and unelected government, by definition, has less incentives to solve the socio-economic or any other problems the country faces. Because they are accountable to no one. Thanks to the ruling clique’s efforts there is no real opposition in the country. The society is not law-based thanks to the same efforts. And the people are apathetic beyond measure, again, thanks to the ruling clique’s efforts.
As for alternatives to Serj, we need to look at what have past elections produced. Had they were free and fair, in 1996 we would have Vazgen Manoukian instead of LTP. Had they been free and fair, in 1998 we would have Karen Demirchian instead of Robik. And then, we would have anyone but Serjik. Since the whole election process throughout 20 years went wrong, we now have Serj. And we have a situation where many intelligent, capable individuals have left the country. Therefore, to ask “who or what would replace Serj” under these circumstances is cynical, to say the least.
One thing is clear: to endure another rigged election is no longer “funny.” Armenia will de-populate completely.
While I agree that Armenia can benefit greatly over the long term by diasporan repatriation (and I actively advocate for it amongst friends), I think it would be difficult for the government to make a policy of it. Armenia has >25% unemployment. Setting up a program to repatriate 30,000-80,000 diasporan Armenians into the country without a source of employment would only exacerbate this problem and (1) anger existing residents and (2) make for a less-than-enjoyable experience for the unemployed repatriates (as many diasporans experienced in the 1960s-70s and again in the early 1990s).
As for the idea that the repatriates won’t be a burden on the unemployment rate but will instead set up businesses in Armenia and hire the unemployed locals, I think that’s more difficult to envision. First, while some ME diasporans might be in a position to start a business, I would assume that most don’t have the means (or know-how) to start a business in Armenia. Even if they had the capital and the resources, they would still face the myriad challenges faced by other entrepreneurs hoping to start businesses in Armenia – closed borders, limited raw materials and corrupt oligarchs/regulatory regimes.
Ani, while I agree that it would be great to have these diasporans resettle in Armenia (and I encourage those who have the means to do so), I can see why the government won’t make it official policy.
I will give some statistics you can find them in the economic indicators on UN site and World Bank
Unemployment 30%
50% of graduated persons do not work
Corruption In the world takes away 265 Billion dollars out of economy every year.
These are common in 184 countries,including all Africa,ex Soviet union,ex communist states,
the Americas excluding Canada, for now, Spain,Italy,Greece,Portugal,Irland,and in recent times also Belgium and perhaps Denmark.
6 milion Ucranians work outside their country.
1 bilion persons in the world go to sleep hungry.
Every 1.5 seconds in the world a baby dies from hunger.
47 milions of USA Americans are in poverty.
In 2013 Greece will go bankrupt
6 milion Saudis are poor.
Syria is the 3 rd country in the world for the number of refugges ,1.5 milion Iraqis.
8 milion Italians do not have potable water in their house,their country is one of the 8 BIGS.
Do you want want more, I have 43 pages !!!!!!
We see that Armenia is not an exception.neither Turkey or Azerbaijan.
Armenians have to work to give real and practical solutions,
but it seems that many of us are giving advices only with our computers.
and deciding for others what they have to do.
Let Armenians in M.E. do what they think is right for them without interference.
And at last I hope that the Armenians will begin to write about what they have done
for Armenia in real terms, and not only giving advices and advices.
My father used to say adivce do not fill empty stomach.!!!!!!
Did I made myself understood, I hope so.
Garo,
You seem to be very concerned Armenian, Kudos. Likewise. Here’s a question to you, What is your opinion of, Diasporan Armenians, adopting a ‘Needy-Family’ in Armenia and Artsakh?’ Do you think it will work?
DEAR JAY
Thanks for your complement,although I didn’t understand what is kudos ?
Your idea is excellent,As no body can identify me,I can conferm that I, with my brother and sister,adopted 10 armenian youths,(personally we verified their conditions),we pay only for their tuition,books and small poket money,it is not much,but at least they feel that someone cares for them.
I believe that 70% of diasporan armenians can do what we do.
If you have organisional capacities,which I do not,your Idea can work very well,(sometimes when I see the conditions of Armenian families on satelite tv from Armenia,it makes me feel very bad),be assured that I am here to do evertything
I can. Good Luck.
Hello Garo,
‘Kudos’ means, magnificent or splendid. Now, reflecting back to your previous comment, Armenians are generous,warm-hearted and compassionate people, there’s no doubt on my mind that over 70 percent of Diasporans would be glad to come to the needy Armenians’ assistance with open arms. I had a similar experience as you and your siblings had. I adopted a college student in her early 20’s, attending ,Yerevan Politechnic Institute, and little over a year later she got married and lost our touch. I do not belong to any charity groups, just an old school, Tasnak. My suggestion is that, if each fellow Diasporan’s able to travel to ,Armenia, they should do so, and while there, spend minimum of , maybe 25 percent of the leisure time getting aquainted with the locals and find out what their needs are. Go visually inspect the conditions they’re living in and use discretion. And if they meet the criteria you were expecting then ,’Adopt-A-Needy-Family’ set up a monthly payment plan. There are widows from Javakh, Artsakh and Armenia who lost their husbands in Karabakh liberation war who have children and in dire need of financial means. Now, i’m not certain if this idea would be materialized on an organizational level, since there are numerous GASHAGER charity groups which I don’t trust. I would highly recommend to get, hands-on-experience, and take care of the matter in your own hands. Makes you feel better. THNX,keep in touch.
AR – So VERY true: “Diaspora organizations can help with any plans to re settle Armenians in Armenia. It would be a much better investment than the current goal of getting various countries to recognize the Armenian genocide.” THANK YOU.
If Diaspora would spend only 20-30% of the money they spend on the (mostly fruitless) efforts for recognition of Genocide (specially in US), then quite a many Armenians would be able to re-settle in Armenia/Armenian liberated territories. If they knew there were funds available for this, EVEN Hayastantsi Armenians would go back to Armenia or re-settle in NKR.
And IF Diaspora would have had the courage to raise its voice (even at times) on internal political issues of Armenia then we wouldn’t have the Armenia we have now.
PS. Dear Ani Tchaghlasian – when are YOU planing to re-settle in Armenia or liberated territories?
Dear JAY
Thank you again,hoping that your experiance can be repeated,
with thousands of Armenians.
I have a DREAM …. Every Armenian gives what he can,
so our motherland someday becomes a place, where not only the
Armenians want to live in,but also we get also requests from other
nationalities to immigrate to Armenia …..OK ,if we want we CAN.
This is my dream,my hope,and my prayer.
I find it quite interesting how often Armenians blame the troubles of Armenia on the “corrupt oligarchs.” From where did these oligarchs come? Are they an alien species which came to earth from another planet? Are they the product of some bizarre genetic engineering experiment dedicated to producing a sub species of Homo Sapien in which everyone is a self-important a^*hole? No. They are us. They are a product of our culture. Why do we act surprised when a man who was taught from birth “enrich & empower yourself & your immediate family no matter what the cost” commits treason against his nation for money? Why should it shock anyone that people raised in an atmosphere of clannishness have difficulty working together for the national good? Is it really any wonder that the wealthy of such a people are happy to let their countrymen suffer while they lounge around their homes in Greece, the U.S., Switzerland, France, etc. etc.? Of course not; their mothers raised them to be that way. Meanwhile, our enemies grow ever more fanatic. Their mothers are raising them to idolize suicide bombers. If we don’t want to go extinct we had better stop being so petty, so concerned with our worthless lives, so obsessed with our meaningless careers & so worried about the futures of our insignificant children. If that sounds harsh that is because it was meant to sound harsh. Life is harsh. The oligarchs will change only if the whole culture changes. We all need to take a long hard look at our basic values, realize those values are selfish cowardly trash & replace them with a culture worthy of survival. If that happens we might survive. If not, those oligarchs will lead us right into another genocide.
armen —-Not quite so. The troubles of Armenia are not because of the existence of the corrupt oligarchs, but because the corrupt oligarchs, unfortunately, constitute the determinant stratum of the society at this point in time, with their low-brow tastes, customs, and attitudes. Of course they are part of us. But intellectuals like you, me, and many others on these pages and beyond are part of us, too. We, too, are products of our culture, aren’t we? Khachatourian, Narekatsi, Hambartsoumian, Sayat-Nova, Sarian, Mantashev, etc. were also part of our culture, weren’t they? The tragedy is not that scumbags exist. The tragedy is that nowadays they dominate the society. Whereas in our history we’ve seen intelligent, erudite, talented people dominating and influencing the societal tastes, norms, and attitudes. Most recently, during the Soviet period of our history. Educated people dominated the society, not scumbags. Why wouldn’t I let my countrymen suffer? Why wouldn’t I wish to dedicate my whole life for self-enrichment? Am I not the product of the same ethnos, same culture? As for a culture worthy of survival, I wouldn’t worry about that: our whole culture is a culture of survival.
Having read all the “‘comments” I cry for my Armenian peoples, I cry for my Armenian nation… The potentials of such an advanced and intelligent and religious peoples do not deserve to be ‘”eliminated”” by the vile acts of the Turks of the Ottomans and the vile Turks that have followed, of their abuses of our rights to exist as a God given people. But, worse, to know that our own leaders of Haiastan to date contribute to the downfall of our homeland – they who steal/have stolen from our homeland… seeking to fill their own pockets… these certainly are not patriots. Actually all these leaders are exactly as the Turks and Azeris – the enemy of our citizens of ourh homeland, Haiastan. All these
Armenian leaderships – misleading our Armenian nation are not patriots at this most vital times in the history of our Armenian nation! These mistaken leaders are/have been not prepared or ill equipped to lead our young and fledgling nation of only 20 years – for, as they err and fall, mistakenly seek their ways – thus withholding our homeland from their rights to our honest and PATRIOTIC leaders ALL our citizens are due and owed – MISTAKES can occur… but STUPIDITY/GREED is not to be forgiven. All the leaders to date have been seeking only to fill their own pockets – allowing our fledgling nation of Haiastan to suffer as it is today. Our enemy is not just Turks/Azeris, and more… For today, our enemies of Haiastan resides within our own Armenian homelands’ governments… all the leaderships – these 20 years!! AHMOT!
Manooshag—I fear that the situation is even worse than your description. It is not just the elites of Armenian who have become petty, money obsessed, small minded losers. A vast majority of the entire Armenian are now such people. The next time you go to a gathering of Armenians pay careful attention to the conversations. About what do they speak?-Their own petty little lives. They prattle on and on about their houses, about their businesses, about where they want to live when they retire, etc. etc. Such are the conversations of empty minded animals. And furthermore, pay attention to how they speak. They speak like uneducated morons who are no more developed than apes. Their pronunciation & grammar of both Armenian and English is always disgusting. They make no effort to sound educated and eloquent because they just plain don’t give a damn. They have no ability to experience shame as they talk in a grotesque patois of broken Armenian and broken English about the best kind of hardwood floors or about each others grandchildren or about some other irrelevant nonsense. This generation of so called Armenians is a sick sad joke. A collection of people who look and speak and dress and act like the Hollywood movie stereotype of the ignorant uneducated aggressive ill-mannered sexist backwards big-mouth immigrant.
“make for a less-than-enjoyable experience for the unemployed repatriates (as many “diasporans experienced in the 1960s-70s and again in the early 1990s”
I think that we have to learn from these mistakes. One way to avoid such situation in the future is for each regional diaspora to build a settlement for 5-10,000 repatriates from that region. It could be like a gated community with whatever conditions they are used to in the respective donor country. I imagine a walkable place with townhouses, schools, swimming pools, shops and businesses for people from the US. A portion of the units could be designated to local Armenians like a subsidized housing.
The government of Armenia should contribute by establishing tax-free zones in such settlements. People who resettle should be free to keep their citizenship and move back if it didn’t work out for them. It is naive to expect each individual repatriate family to adjust to live in Armenia on their own, but when you have a few thousand of families together, this could work. Only their children would be able to fully integrate into the wider Armenian society and prepare ground for more repatriates to come.
So, if each major diaspora (say US, Canada, France, Russia, Middle East) contributes a settlement that would bring 25-50,000 repatriates to Armenia. Lets say the initial cost/subsidy of each settlement would be $200 million – every regional diaspora can afford it and even more – they can have a healthy competition with each other!
While each diaspora prepares for this project (it can take a few years) the candidate families can form virtual communities to get to know their future neighbors and plan for businesses and their town affairs.
As for the current outflow… Although it is very bad for Armenia to loose population (and economically most active, educated portion of it) as a gift to other countries, it is probably the only way to save these people and hope that their children will return back to the growing settlements…
This situation is due to many factors including corruption, threat of war, etc. One factor that is not adequately addressed by Diaspora organizations is that Armenia is under a NATO-member imposed illegal economic blockade. Blockade is an act of war, and through Turkey each NATO member country participates in this economic genocide. Without this NATO support and backing Turkey would not have guts to keep closed borders and build railroads, oil and gas pipelines around Armenia. When Soviets imposed a blockade on West Berlin, US organized airlift operation bringing food and supplies by air. Why can’t this be done for blockaded Armenia and Artsakh?
@ armen,
I have lived in, Melbourne Beach, Florida, since, I moved to the United States, in the mid ’80s. I have not attended or been to any of ,Armenian events, for over 20 years, due to geographical distance. Now, I’m not quite certain if what you have WHINEd about , Armenians, are true or not, but I assure you that judging the tone in your last comment,YOU are the one who speaks like an uneducated person, You are the one who sounds like an uneducated person and You are the one who sounds like an aggressive person. There’s no doubt in my mind that You share all the ‘Qualities’ you have addressed against the ,Armenians’. You are the biggest eeeeg-norant,aggressive, ill-mannered , sexist and S backwards foul mouthed retard ther is.
If you have not been active in the affairs of your people for over 20 years then why comment? Really!?! 20 years!?! Honestly sir, it is shocking that you would admit to having lived that kind of life and then think you have the right to comment. Pointing out an unpleasant fact is not being aggressive-it is being truthful. Doing so may cause pain, but that is because the truth is often painful. This is why lying is so tempting. Telling lies is easier. Lying makes people feel good. Lying makes you well liked.
If you want to relocate diasporan Armenians to Armenia, you need to get the church involved. The priests are the ones most familiar with the demographics. The best candidates are peasants who work the land. Give them land, pay their transportation, and that way you will have a permanent settler. There are about 300,000 Romanians of Armenian origin in Moldova. They work the land, they live in a similar climatic region, they would be perfect candidates. There are many isolated Armenian rural families in Turkey. There are the Hamshen Armenians in Krasnodar region, and some-where in Turbanistan. They are a rural people, close knit, perfect. So they are Muslim. So what. Are they worst than the Armenian Communists? There are many isolated retired people all over the world collecting Social Security benefits. In the US, that’s between $ 500 and $1400 a month. Immagine the foreign currency income if we brought them into the fold. They would not be any threat or competition with the locals, and they would spend that money locally. Perfect. Lets hope that this new diaspora ministry is for real and not just another sham.