Wednesday, August 12 2020 14:58

ArmInfo. Armenian President rmen Sarkissian received members of the board of the NGO "Center for  Coordination of Syrian Armenians Issues" headed by its Chairman,  surgeon George Barseghian. ArmInfo was informed about this in the  press service of the RA President.

Presenting the activities of the "Center for Coordination of Syrian  Armenians Issues", Barseghyan said that since the establishment of  the center in 2012, their activities were aimed at supporting the  Syrian Armenians living in Armenia, coordinating and solving their  problems.

Noting that the Center operates under the auspices of the Armenian  General Benevolent Union, Barseghyan said that over the past 18 years  they have been cooperating with state structures, humanitarian and  charitable organizations.

In turn, the RA President, noting that the repatriation is the result  of desired, happy, but often painful historical, political, military  events, in particular said: "Even in the short history of the First  Republic there was repatriation from a number of countries, the  repatriation of the Armenian intelligentsia, who returned to their  homeland to build a state. Repatriation took place in the first years  of Soviet Armenia. And, of course, the largest repatriation took  place after 1946, after the catastrophic Second World War, "the  Armenian leader said, adding that despite the difficult situation in  the USSR, people returned home from the Middle East, Europe and many  other countries. According to him, this repatriation even in those  days did not have only physical significance, since people brought  with them culture, experience, future cultural and scientific  workers.

Sarkissian noted with regret that the war in Syria claimed lives,  destroyed people's families and homes, and their sustainable future.  "But even this has a good side, since the Armenians of the Diaspora,  including the Syrian Armenians, today have a homeland, and if there  is a problem in a country that is their second homeland, they always  have somewhere to go, like a child who always returns to his parents  in difficult times. He returns to his homeland to find his identity.  This is our last refuge in every sense, "he said, adding that it is  certainly not easy for the Armenians of Syria, and he knows many  cases when they came to Armenia and they started everything from  scratch, but they built their houses and the future and have already  become a part of their homeland.

"There will probably be waves of repatriation again, many will return  home. And our task is very simple:  our Motherland must be strong,  stable, ready to accept our children at any moment. This is your  home. This is the home of all of us," Sarkissian said, calling never  forget the attitude of Syria towards the Armenian people, especially  after the genocide. He expressed his conviction that the Syrian  Armenians will continue to be a bridge between Armenia and Syria.