Armenians leave the South Caucasus

Baku/01.02.21/Turan: Armenians are leaving Armenia and Karabakh. The war is over, but the fear of the resumption of hostilities in society continues to persist, sociologist Samvel Manukyan believes. He is confident that both inside and outside the country there are forces that will do their best to aggravate the situation. In addition to this, after the signing of the trilateral statement, the length of the border with Azerbaijan has significantly increased and, as a consequence, the number of border communities.

According to the expert, the uncertain military-political situation, fear of a new war and the threat emanating from Turkey are a powerful factor spurring emigration. Disappointment with the authorities and, of course, the deterioration of the socio-economic situation are also important factors.

Manukyan believes that in the event of an outflow of the population, the majority will leave for Russia. According to statistics, about 20% of families in Armenia have labor migrants in this particular country.

He compared the situation with the dark 90s, when people, leaving their homes, went into obscurity. According to the National Statistical Service, in 1992, during the first Karabakh war, about 230 thousand people left the country.

“If the borders open, and the situation does not change for the better, then, according to very rough estimates, about 150 thousand of its citizens could leave Armenia,” Manukyan warned on the days when the borders of Armenia were closed due to the coronavirus.

"I have just left the airport. There has never been such a rush demand for flights to Russia. Armenia will face the largest migration in the last 30 years, even in the 90s of the last century, this was not the case," Naira, a member of the National Assembly of Armenia, told the Yerevan press Zohrabyan.

Zohrabyan called the reasons for such a record migration "firstly, the war. Secondly, the Armenians no longer feel safe in their country. Thirdly, and most importantly, the economic situation in Armenia is too difficult."

"... Judging by the general atmosphere, there will simply be a demographic crisis in Armenia ..." - the MP from "Prosperous Armenia" drew attention.

"Only today, on February 1, six flights flew from Yerevan to Russia, of which four were to Moscow. The first flight departed to Minvody at 7:55 am. This is a national tragedy. Many of our citizens already had tickets, but they had a test for coronavirus turned out to be positive and just imagine that you have lost the opportunity to fly to Russia ...," stressed Naira Zohrabyan.

The Armenians of Georgia are also striving to leave the region. Today, citizens of Armenian nationality living compactly in Georgia came out to protest and said that they would continue the demonstration until Tbilisi opens its borders with Russia and Armenia.

From February 1, 2021, Georgia opened all air borders for arrival and departure. However, air tickets to Moscow from Tbilisi are more expensive than from Yerevan, so Akhalkalaki Armenians prefer to fly to Russia from Yerevan, having reached Tbilisi by car.--0--