A gradual relaxation of restrictions on citizenship has widened the circle of those who are applying. At the same time, however, the privileges of Armenian citizenship have been watered down for those who reside abroad and/or also hold other citizenships.
Between 1946 and 1949, around 90,000 Armenians repatriated to Soviet Armenia; they were families that had been displaced from their homes in the former Ottoman Empire during the Armenian Genocide. Some of them were exiled.
Armenia is multicultural in the most covert ways, a landlocked country who has an Ayvazovsky. Whether you are moving forward by moving back or moving away, you are in its orbit.
Although the short-lived First Republic of Armenia is often viewed through the prism of the government’s activities, such as military operations, state defense, social issues, and foreign policy, the electoral processes at the time parallel today’s reality.
If we are to develop and build a functional relationship between the Homeland and the Armenian Diaspora, we need to understand the discrepancy between the Diaspora’s devotion to Armenianness and the Republic of Armenia’s vision for the Armenian world.
“Western Armenia” as a concept is a crucial component of the Armenian national narrative, mostly in the Diaspora. In this article, Varak Ketsemanian raises some questions regarding the Armenian reality’s understanding of “Western Armenia,” its biases and blind-spots. He suggests refining the ways in which we discuss and represent “Western Armenia” in the 21st century.
EVN Report’s mission is to empower Armenia, inspire the diaspora and inform the world through sound, credible and fact-based reporting and commentary. Our goal is to increase public trust in the media. EVN Report is the media arm of EVN News Foundation registered in the Republic of Armenia in 2017.
