Wednesday, March 22 2017 13:50

ArmInfo.From Syria alone around 22 thousand Armenians found refuge in Armenia, making our country the third largest recipient of Syrian refugees in Europe on  per capita basis, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said in  an interview with "Regional Post" magazine. 

The press office of the Armenian Foreign Ministry quotes Nalbandian  as saying, "The violence in the Middle East has not spared Syrian  Armenians, many of whom lost their lives in terrorist attacks. The  Armenian settlements, churches, schools and cultural institutions  were destroyed. There is a sad symbolism that our fellow Armenians  have been again obliged to flee from the very countries that have  sheltered them one hundred years ago after the Genocide. From Syria  alone around 22 thousand Armenians found refuge in Armenia, making  our country the third largest recipient of Syrian refugees in Europe  on per capita basis." 

"In the late 80s and beginning of 90s Armenians were either massacred  or expelled from their homes in Azerbaijan and found refuge in  Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. Therefore, we have first-hand knowledge  about what it means to be a refugee, to host refugees and to work  towards solution of their problems," the Minister said. As regards  Turkey's policy, he stressed: "The land blockade of Armenia by Turkey  is a gross violation of international commitments. It continues to  severely hamper regional transit communication routes, economic  cooperation and integration."