Currently, there are nearly 25,000 Armenians living in Syria, 30% of which are children, and even the long-lasting war doesn’t make them move to Armenia. During the past couple of sessions, Prime Minister of Armenia Hovik Abrahamyan has been declaring that Armenia is ready to receive the Armenians of Aleppo and especially children, but there is no response to these statements.

“The Syrian-Armenians haven’t announced their decision to leave Syria through their representation in Syria, meaning the Armenian government can’t take any action. Our actions must be based on their decision, which is announced via the executive and representative authorities of the Syrian-Armenian community. We’ll respond to any decision that they make,” Chief of Staff of the RA Ministry of Diaspora, chairman of the commission on Syrian-Armenians’ issues Firdus Zakaryan said in an interview with Panorama.am.

According to Zakaryan, the Armenians of Syria have said they want to send their children to Armenia after the end of the school year, but there hasn’t been any decision.

Perhaps the representation of the Armenian community of Aleppo doesn’t want to move the Armenians of Aleppo to Armenia because the Armenian government isn’t providing sufficient living conditions for them. In response to this, Zakaryan said: “No, there is no such issue. We have cordially received and provided them with conditions. There were families that came for two weeks, but were ready to stay longer. There were families that wanted to have their children stay here longer, but the parents didn’t agree. I can’t say anything on their behalf.”

According to Arabologist Sargis Grigoryan, the Armenians aren’t leaving Aleppo because they are meeting the objective to preserve the Armenian community.

“It’s kind of risky for Armenians to move from Aleppo now. Of course, there are people who want to leave, but they don’t have the opportunity. There are people who simply listen to the secular and mundane leaders of the community. Most of the Armenians of Aleppo are affiliated to Antelias, and the words of Aram I have quite an influence on them. There are people who listen to the clergy. Overall, they are in a very bad situation, and the active efforts of Islamists is making the situation worse,” the Arabologist said, noting that Aleppo is currently in a blockade and citizens have no electricity.

According to him, the Armenian government’s actions are adequate to the situation. “I think the Armenian government is doing everything it can. What else can it do?” the Arabologist noted.

Grigoryan is amazed at the passivity of the public sector in regard to Syrian-Armenians’ safety. According to him, people should have held demonstrations in front of the buildings of international organizations and express pain to see how the Islamists of Syria are attacking Christians.