ARMENIANS

Armenians: translation

   Ethnic group. Officially numbering over 1 million, Armenians are Russia’s seventh-largest nationality. Some estimates, however, suggest that upward of 2.9 million, many being unregistered guest workers, reside in the federation.

   Armenians are an Indo-European people from the Southern Caucasus; most are Christians, adhering to the Armenian Apostolic Church founded in the 4th century, though some confess Armenian Catholicism. Worldwide, there are more than 8 million Armenians; 3.2 million reside in the Republic of Armenia. Armenians have been settling across the Russian lands since the late medieval period, typically occupying positions as merchants and artisans.Armenians are particularly numerous in Moscow and the southern regions of the federation. In Stavropol Krai and Krasnodar Krai, they account for more than 5 percent of the local population; in some areas, entire villages are ethnically Armenian.

   Since 1991, Armenians, who are often of dark complexion, have been targeted for ethnic violence by neo-Nazis and ultranationalists. Punitive legal actions have also been taken against “non-Russian” merchants in recent years, which have disproportionately impacted urban Armenian communities. In a 2008 visit to the Armenian expatriate community in Moscow, Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan advocated a policy of assimilation for his co-nationals in an effort to combat xenophobia, stating: “Being a good Armenian means being a good Russian.”

   There are also important divisions within Russia’s Armenian community, particularly between “old” (pre-1985) Armenian settlers and newer, post-Soviet immigrants who fled the war in NagornoKarabakh. The Union of Armenians in Russia is the primary social organization catering to the diaspora. Since the mid-1990s, Russia has been granting citizenship to ethnic Armenians in the Javakheti region of Georgia, an action that has been criticized by Tbilisi as undermining the Caucasian state’s sovereignty.

   Andranik Migranyan, a key foreign policy advisor in the Yeltsin administration and author of the so-called Monroeski doctrine, is an ethnic Armenian.

   See also Christianity; Economy.

Armenians: translation

   The Armenians are an ancient Indo-European-speaking people who lived in eastern Anatolia until World War I and still inhabit the Caucasus Mountains. In 301 they became the first people to adopt Christianity as the official state religion. A Ca-tholicos (Pope) heads the Armenian Gregorian (Apostolic) Church in Armenia, and a rival Cilician (Sis) Catholicos sits in Lebanon. Their historic homeland partially overlaps with the Kurds'. Over the years much bloodshed has occurred between the historically nomadic Kurds and sedentary Armenians. During World War I the Armenians suffered at the hands of the Ottoman Turks what many would consider genocide.Kurdish brigands played a notorious role in these events.

   Since both saw Turkey as an enemy after World War I, however, some proposed an alliance between the Armenians and Kurds against Turkey. A small amount of cooperation apparently has occurred. From 1973 to 1984, some 30 Turkish diplomats or members of their immediate families were assassinated by Armenian terrorists. In 1991, Armenia became an independent state upon the breakup of the Soviet Union. War between the new states of Armenia and Azerbaijan resulted in the creation of another ethnically de facto Armenian state known as Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) on some 15 percent of Azeri territory. More than 3,000,000 Armenians currently live in

   Armenia, while a diaspora of another 3,000,000 live in various successor Soviet states, the United States, France, and numerous other places. Great animosity continues to exist between many Armenians and Turkey over Armenian accusations of genocide during World War I and Turkish denials, as well as more recent events largely revolving around the issue of Nagorno Karabakh.