Today.Az » Politics » Armenian Foreign Minister: "Armenians have created 'Little Armenias' everywhere they live"
25 November 2008 [12:56] - Today.Az
"Since our independence Armenia and the United States have very good relations and we are committed to continue working together with new U.S. administration to deepen, expand and enrich our friendly partnership", Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian says in an interview with Hurriyet.
"The Armenian people are grateful to the United States for the comprehensive assistance it has provided since our independence and up to this day. The United States plays an important role in the resolution of the Karabakh conflict as one of the co-chairs of the OSCE's Minsk Group.
We highly appreciate the President-elect's awareness and stands on Armenian issues and we think that the relations between Armenia and the U.S. will attain a new quality during President-elect Barack Obama's term of office and cooperation between our countries will be enhanced for the sake of our friendly peoples", he said.
The newspaper writes: "You would think that 70 years of communism would have changed the character of Armenians living in Armenia and made them acquire a different mentality from the Armenians of the diaspora. The 70 years of communism also kept them separate from the average Turkish citizen with whom they have many things in common.
Nalbandian's views were somewhat surprising. He answered: "The Soviet era of Armenian history has had less negative than positive impact. Armenia was known as the 'Silicon Valley' of the Soviet Union with about 200 research centers and scientific institutions, with a highly educated population and with an extremely large number of scientists and researchers in proportion to its population.
"That's true that today two-thirds of the Armenian people lives abroad, in about 70 countries on five continents of our planet. They have created 'Little Armenias' everywhere they live. Although they are citizens of different countries and have the common features of the peoples with whom they are living, almost all of them have kept deeply their Armenian identity and traditions. Today they are united by the desire and will to realize the dream of their ancestors - a prosperous Armenia."
/ArmInfo/
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