Living in the city of Nalchik of the Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria for 15 years, Artur Poghosyan had always wanted to create a community for the local Armenians.

One of the goals of creating a community was to protect the rights of the Armenians and keep them attached to Armenia, which would help prevent their assimilation. In 2015, Artur Poghosyan created the “Aghbyur” (Source) Armenian community of the Union of Armenians of Russia, gathering supporters and people who shared his ideas.

Artur Poghosyan assures that the presence of the community has vitalized the Armenians of Nalchik, especially the youth who attend Armenian dance lessons at the hall of the cultural center in Nalchik and participate in organizing and holding events devoted to Armenian national and church holidays.

“If we didn’t have the preconditions to show our culture and present our national values abroad, people would rarely respect and pay attention to us in a country that is mainly populated by Turks and Azerbaijanis,” head of the community Artur Poghosyan told Hayern Aysor, adding that he is pleased with the creation of favorable conditions for the local Armenians since they are active in the community and don’t forget their roots. One of the upcoming plans of the community is the establishment of an Armenian school, and the construction of an Armenian church in Nalchik is also a major issue for Artur Poghosyan.

“I have already submitted the construction plan to the municipal authorities and haven’t faced any obstacles in this Muslim country. They have promised to help me because they really want to establish friendly relations with Armenia,” the head of the community stated.

Let us also inform that there are nearly 12,000 Armenians living in the Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria and are mainly involved with trade and construction.

At the end, Artur Poghosyan also informed that the community was in close collaboration with the RA Ministry of Diaspora. “Through our cooperation, 15 Armenian boys and girls of Nalchik will be participating in the “Ari Tun” Program for the first time this year. When they found out about this, they got excited and are now impatiently waiting for their visit to Armenia. There are children and youth who will be seeing the Homeland for the first time ever,” Poghosyan said.

Gevorg Chichyan