Federation of Armenian Organisations of the Netherlands (FAON)
Address: Weesperstraat 91 – 2574 VS The Hague
Telephone: +31704490209
E-mail: info@faon.nl
Contact: M. Hakhverdian

PRESS RELEASE

The Hague, 19 September 2007

Research on Armenians in the Netherlands

This week a group of some hundreds of Armenians is receiving a questionnaire
with the request to cooperate in a research on Armenians in the Netherlands.
This independent research is an initiative of the Federation of Armenian
Organisations in the Netherlands (FAON). The Dutch government supports the
research financially. This support was promised to FAON last year during a
meeting with the Minister of Integration of the Netherlands.

The results of the research will enlarge our knowledge about the Armenians
in the Netherlands, for example about the countries where they are coming
from, their level of education and occupation and their position in the
Dutch society in general. By this research it will also be possible to
estimate more accurately the number of the Armenian-Dutch population, since
there are no official figures on the ethnic Armenians living in the
Netherlands.

The group receiving the questionnaire is a random sample taken from some
thousands of addresses of Armenians. The selection of the group has been
made by the researcher.

The establishment of the questionnaire, as well as the selection of the
group were made carefully after a long preparation work and the collection
of available data on ethnic Armenians of the Netherlands. The investigation
is conducted by the Dutch sociologist Mr. G.J. Veerman for the FAON. The
research is closely followed by a supervising commission chaired by the
research specialist of the Dutch Ministry and includes, among others, the
Armenologist Prof. Dr. J. Weitenberg and the former deputy director of the
Dutch Social and Cultural Planning Office C. van Praag.

After this phase of the inquiry, the outcome will be analysed. The result of
the research together with an introduction on the background of the
Armenians will be published by the FAON in a booklet. The FAON hopes to
offer this booklet to the Dutch Minister beginning of next year.