Armenia has greater weight thanks to Diaspora, and Turkey and Azerbaijan know this as well –Varuzhan Geghamyan

A discussion on the topic “Armenia and the Region: On the Eve of a Choice” was recently held in Los Angeles. Alpha News spoke with the event’s speaker, historian and Turkologist Varuzhan Geghamyan.

“Especially after 2020, we consider it important to talk about the challenges facing the Republic of Armenia, not only within Armenia but also in the Armenian Diaspora. We make regular visits, presenting both existing problems and ways to solve them. In other words, these are programs and steps aimed at strengthening, expanding, and in some cases restoring Armenia-Diaspora ties,” he said.

According to Geghamyan, Armenia’s global weight without the Diaspora is one thing, but with the Diaspora it is entirely different—and Turkey and Azerbaijan know this as well.

“Since gaining independence, Azerbaijan, at the highest level, has constantly spoken about creating as many barriers as possible between Armenia and the Diaspora, so that ultimately the Diaspora and Armenian statehood would be cut off from one another. Why is this important for them? Because thanks to the existence of the Diaspora, the Armenian state acquires a completely different, much greater weight,” Geghamyan concluded.