ARMENIANS ARE NOT A BURDEN IN ANY COUNTRY: ARMENIAN PRESIDENT
ARMINFO News Agency
September 23, 2006 Saturday
Armenians are not a burden in any country. They are economically
active and enterprising and as a rule are actively integrated in
the economy of the country they live in, Armenian President Robert
Kocharyan says in an interview to Vesti Nedeli TV program (Russia)
when asked about the growing number of attacks on Armenians and other
Caucasians in Russia.
Kocharyan says that some patriotic moods are obviously rising in
Russia. There were years when Armenians felt themselves humiliated
in Russia but now the situation is changing. We should carry out
explanatory work with people to make this change tangible – first of
all, for Russia itself, says Kocharyan.
Asked about the level of knowledge of Russian in Armenia, Kocharyan
says that today it is lower than in the Soviet times. But for a small
country like Armenia it is simply indispensable to know foreign
language. "We simply can’t translate all necessary literature,
particularly technical one, into Armenian and in order to get full
value education it is necessary to know foreign language." "It’s
God’s will that we know Russian and I think we realize it." Kocahryan
says that broadcasting of Russian channels in Armenia is a very
important factor for raising the level of knowledge of Russian in
the country. "I would like the Russian side to be more active in
the matter. I think that any educated person in Armenia should know
Russian and one European language."
Asked if Armenia will live calmly in the next 1.5 years, Kocharyan
says: "I think yes. You mean elections? I think we have an immunity
in the matter."