Armenian population decline, residents still hostages of interests - COMMENT

Baku. 2 August. REPORT.AZ/ There is such a saying: “Those who think with their stomach” meaning people who care only about their own benefits and interests; another wise saying goes: “Those who carry their motherland at their heels” meaning false patriots.

Both sayings mainly refer to those who abandon their motherland and cut their ties with it. These also refer to the Armenians as an ethnic group. Due to the fact that this ethnicity does not have their land, they have always cared about their own benefits and found a land wherever was beneficial for them. Later, they called those lands “motherland” and claimed them to be theirs. In the modern-day world, they call Armenia their state and have also claimed Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh with the help of their patrons.

Nevertheless, the current political, social and economic state in Armenia urges the Armenians to abandon these territories as well.

The National Statistics Service of Armenia said that the number of the country’s population had declined by 15, 2 000 people. As of July 1, 2017, the number of the Armenian population was 2 mln. 979, 000 9 people. It is 15, 2 000 people less compared to the corresponding period of 2016.

In the first 6 months of 2017, the number of newborns declined by 6,6% and made 17, 169; during this period, the number of the dead rose by 2,1% and was equal to 14,709.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, for the first time, the number of the Armenian population was less than 3 mln. in 2016. In 1990, the country’s population was 3 mln. 574, 000, in 2016, the number was 2 mln. 998, 600 people.

By the way, during his speech before newly elected members of the Parliament, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan noted that the number of the population should reach 4 mln. people by 2040. 

It is no secret that among the former Soviet republics, Armenia is the only homogenous country. Some 98, 2% of its population are Armenians. According to the circulated information, 5 mln. Armenians have settled in 66 states of the world.

In the first 7 months of 2017, the number of marriages fell by 6,5% compared to last year; in the reporting year, the number of divorces increased by 11,2%.

Head of the National Statistics Service Population Census and Demography Department  Karine Kyumjian stressed that since early 2017, 7,234 marriages had been registered; 7,739 marriages were registered in the same period of last year. In the current year, 1,949 divorces have been registered; the number was 1,753 in the same period of last year.

During his speech at a session of the Parliament, Finance Minister Vardan Aramyan emphasized that the volume of transactions in Armenia has decreased by $ 830 mln. or 38,4% over the last three years.

Undoubtedly, one of its reasons is connected with the growth of the number of those who leave Armenia with their families for good.

The demographic situation in the country also causes concern among public figures of Armenia.

Member of the Armenian Parliament Migran Akopyan said that immigration and security were the main tasks of the state and government: “All the rest is empty talks.”

Armenian citizens do not want to serve in the army, as children of poor families are sent to Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh occupied by Armenia. They become victims of other people’s interests.

An Armenian citizen called Anait Arutunyan said that he was not going to send his younger son to the army. He noted that in 2016, his elder son Grigor Arutunyan went missing during the April battles in Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh occupied by the Armenians: “Over the last 10 years, Grigor and Serzh have been taking care of me, After Grigor’s death, Serzh is my only caretaker. I have presented all the necessary documents regarding the exemption of Serzh from the military service to the Military Commission and the Defense Ministry. They can take Serzh to the army over my dead body.”

This is one of the brightest examples reflecting the social situation of the Armenian population. Such facts prove that in the last 27 years, population of this country is more inclined to emigration. It can also be considered one of the proofs of the fact that the Armenians are not indigenous people of these lands.

According to this indicator, we can come to the conclusion that the Armenian population become victims of other people’s interests.

Thus, the course of events allows us to say that the Armenians will not be able to fulfill Serzh Sargsyan’s wish by 2040.