“Thank you for being here. We all share the same destiny. The longing for the land is in our souls since we have not been on our land, but we now have the joy of standing on the Sacred Land. This is a feeling that we never had when we were children. What we always felt was the longing for Armenia,” repatriate businessman Christian Geliji said in his speech during the “Repatriates of Our Days: The Returnees” event held at the RA Ministry of Diaspora on February 2.

Christian Geliji went back to his childhood in Holland where he was cut off from the Armenian reality and where his life was limited to attending a Dutch school. His relatives, who had migrated from Western Armenia and settled in Holland, taught him about patriotism, told him stories about Armenia and kept the thought of being Armenian alive in his soul.

The businessman half-jokingly and half-seriously said he had taken one step further than his father by having nine children and stressed the fact that Armenians can make Armenia strong by having many children as well.

“I love my country. I believe my success is due to the fact that I have never focused on the problems in Armenia since I believe every country has problems. Each of us needs to contribute to Armenia’s development, and this particularly refers to repatriates.

We have a great God-given talent, and we need to use it to the best of our ability for our national interests and Armenia and serve it for our country’s prosperity.

I repatriated to Armenia in 1992, and I continue my “struggle” in Armenia,” Christian Geliji concluded.

Gevorg Chichyan