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.