YEREVAN—His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, in a letter to Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan praised the work carried out by the Diaspora Ministry, saying the “Diaspora needs a Diaspora Ministry.”

In his letter, Aram I also expressed hope that the Diaspora would be a priority for the new government.

“I think, given the strategic importance of the existence of the Diaspora ministry, and at the same time its symbolic meaning—because sometimes the symbolic meaning is much more vital than the strategic or political ones—it is important for the Diaspora to have a Diaspora ministry,” Aram I said in an interview with Yerkir Media’s Yerkirn Aysor program.

“Our approach to the Diaspora should be different because if we have nearly 3 million Armenians in Armenia, the remaining 8 million Armenians live in the Diaspora. During the past years the Diaspora ministry has carried out huge works, and we first of all should express our appreciation,” he said, adding that the closure of the ministry might impact Diaspora Armenians negatively.
On Thursday, Pashinyan commented on the proposed dissolution of the Diaspora Ministry saying that the new government’s aim is to make relations and partnership with the Diaspora more effective.

“I would like to especially touch on the case of the Diaspora Ministry, because I think there is a misunderstanding as if we want to [write-off] the Diaspora Ministry. In fact it is just the opposite,” said Pashinyan.

He explained that the proposed formulation would “make the relations and partnership of the government with the Diaspora more effective and in this context we have a certain model and proposal, that implies that the level of relations with the Diaspora will essentially be elevated, not reduced.”

“Our objective is to increase the level of productivity of relations in order to be satisfied with both the process and recorded results. We will proceed with coherent, firm and measured steps. I am sure that the solutions must prove their viability and of course must satisfy all those who are concerned with the efficiency of the state administration in Armenia,” added Pashinyan.