The Ministry of Diaspora was the first to receive and express its support to the several Syrian-Armenians who found themselves in Armenia in the wake of the military operations taking place in Syria. The first objective was to provide them with homes, necessary clothing and other accessories, and our Syrian-Armenians received the support. The ministry took immediate measures and made decisions in extreme situations, after which the ministry set the objective to plan steps. Today, all this has become part of the ministry’s functions. In an effort to keep the Syrian-Armenians in the Homeland and to solve their key issues, the ministry came up with the idea of building the “New Aleppo” residential district near Ashtarak city of Aragatsotn province, which is apparently the first large-scale project to be carried out in Armenia in the post-Soviet era. Ashtarak Municipality was generous and understanding to allocate a tremendous land as a donation. The Tutunjians from Qatar expressed the desire to have a modern district that corresponds to international standards and created the plan for the district, considering it as a show of benevolence and humanitarianism. The district, the plan of which includes more than 400 apartments and villas, will have a club, a playground, stores, a kindergarten and a school, if necessary. There will be one-, two-, three-, four- and five-bedroom apartments.

The Ministry of Diaspora has helped raise nearly 50,000,000 dollars to support the Syrian-Armenians wishing to obtain homes in the New Aleppo district and to make certain investments. This will be a wonderful start and a great support to the families that might not be able to pay the loans. Of course, Minister Hranush Hakobyan’s wish is to collect enough donations to give the apartments to the Syrian-Armenians as a donation, but there is a lack of funds. The ministry has calculated that if every Armenian family living abroad donates just ten dollars, the ministry will be able to provide the Syrian-Armenians with homes for free. Let us mention that several banks, companies and the Union of Armenians of Russia have already made their donations.

Currently, the ministry is working with the Central Bank and trade banks of Armenia to grant the Syrian-Armenians mortgage loans at the lowest possible interest rates.

The only thing left to do is to hope that the Armenian Diaspora, as well as businessmen in Armenia and Diaspora Armenian businessmen show more active participation in this initiative and support the Syrian-Armenians, which will help lay the foundations for a great immigration.