Armenian community of Syria to continue full-swing restoration works in 2019

09:10, 9 January, 2019

YEREVAN, JANUARY 9, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian community of Syria is set to carry out wide-scale restorations of national structures in 2019, the Armenian-born lawmaker of the Syrian parliament Zhirayr Reisian said in an interview with ARMENPRESS.

Reisian says active works in this direction were carried out in 2018 too, and these initiatives will continue this year.

“We expect 2019 to be a peaceful year for the world,” he says. “A restoration process commenced after the liberation of Aleppo. We can say that life has returned to peaceful process. Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia His Holiness Aram I announced the restoration works, they have begun and are in process. For the record, this restoration process isn’t happening only within the Armenian community, the Syrian government has commenced these works,” he said.

The MP says several structures of the Armenian community have already been restored: the Armenian National Sanctuary of Aleppo has been entirely restored, as well as one of the buildings of the Karen Jeppe College, where the academic process is underway. Two Armenian churches and the Cilician College of Aleppo have also been restored.

Now, Reisian says the restoration works will continue in full-swing, and all structures will be restored according to priority. He says that business operators in Aleppo are actively resuming their activities, with stores and productions being opened. “These also include stores and plants of Armenians,” Reisian said, adding that the industrial sector too is being gradually restored.

The lawmaker says that Armenians who left the city earlier are returning to their hometown.

Infrastructures, including water and power supply, are also restored in the city, and all public services are operating normally.

“After the liberation of Aleppo the Syrian Army liberated the endangered regions of the country with consecutive victories, and this process continues. All works aimed at re-establishing peace were indeed seen in 2018. In yearend, there was a decision on withdrawing the American forces, that was followed by certain practical steps. Now we expect that the Turkish invasion will be thwarted and that the Turkish forces will withdraw from Syrian territory once and for all. The Turkish presence showed that great damages have been inflicted, in terms of both human losses and looting,” the MP said.

Reisian also addressed the changes in the government structure in Armenia, the planned reduction of the number of ministries, that also includes the Diaspora Ministry. Reisian expressed concern over the matter, emphasizing the significance of the Diaspora Ministry.

“For me, the dissolution of the Ministry of Diaspora is a bit [perplexing]. This structure deals with a great number of Armenians and has a big role in strengthening the ties between Armenia and the Diaspora. A lot can be said about the importance of the Diaspora Ministry. We should also ask a question to the initiators of this plan, whether or not this issue has been discussed with reputable and responsible figures in the Diaspora. The case of the Culture Ministry is also noteworthy. It is planned to merge it into another ministry. Culture is the mirror of the people, the late [Catholicos] Garegin [I] often said that culture is the path to victory,” Reisian said.

Interview by Anna Gziryan

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan