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Armenians of Mexico among leading specialists in different sectors


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#1 Yervant1

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Posted 01 November 2017 - 08:00 AM

Armenpress News Agency, Armenia
October 30, 2017 Monday


Armenians of Mexico among leading specialists in different sectors



YEREVAN, OCTOBER 30, ARMENPRESS. Musicians, TV commentators, shoe
makers, scientists – Armenians of Mexico are among the leading
specialists in different spheres.

The Armenian community of Mexico was formed during the years following
the Armenian Genocide: initially, they were mainly the Genocide
survivors seeking asylum. Among them were also migrants wanted to
depart for the US.

A representative of the Armenian community Sonya Arakelyan, who is
working at Mexico’s Museum of Memory and Tolerance, says the number of
Armenians in Mexico has varied at different times, however, Armenians
have always had a small community. Today the number of local Armenians
doesn’t exceed 1500.

“Many of them arrived from different parts of Turkey – Adana, Van,
Kars, Bitlis and other regions. During these years many were engaged
in shoe production or trade. My grandfather from the mother’s side
Levon Bodosyan also had a shoe store, and my grandfather from the
father’s side Kerop Arakelyan started working as a carpenter, then
soon he changed his work and established together with my father one
of the biggest toy stores in the country “ARA TOY STORES”. Many of
Armenians in Mexico have established their own businesses. Mexico
hosted them and gave a chance to adjust their own lives”, Sonya
Arakelyan told ARMENPRESS.

At the moment the Armenian community in Mexico is scattered. Main part
of Armenians lives in Mexico city. Being a scattered community it
didn’t have a school, culture house, any national structure. The main
responsibility of preserving the language is put on families. Those,
who speak in Armenian, is thanks to their grandfathers, grandmothers
and parents. In any case the preservation of the language is one of
the issues in the community agenda.

Despite being small and unorganized, Armenians have been among the
leading specialists in different spheres at different periods. Among
the prominent Armenian figures in Mexico are businessmen S. Paluyan
and Sh. Krdikyan, engineer J. Nshanyan and etc.

As for the Armenians who moved to Mexico after the independence their
number reaches nearly 500. Some of them are specialists of classical
music, some are scientists, professors working at different
universities. Many of them have their own businesses in different
sectors – shoe making, carpet production and etc.

“The Armenian community is not formally organized, but this small and
scattered community is proud of its Armenian origin. Everyone within
its capacities takes steps to inform Mexico about Armenians and
through which paths they have passed. The Armenian embassy in Mexico,
established 3 years ago, plays a great role in terms of gathering
Armenians. It implemented different actions which contribute to
spreading the Armenian culture. This is very important. The embassy
promotes also the student exchange program. This diplomatic structure
is important not only for developing Armenia-Mexico cultural, economic
relations, but also it is a linkage for the Armenian community”, she
said.

The Museum of Memory and Tolerance, where she works, was opened 7
years ago. It has 7 departments each telling about the genocides of
different periods, including the Armenian Genocide. Another part of
the Museum is dedicated to tolerance and human rights violations in
Mexico. The hall dedicated to Armenians is small, but at the same time
is quite influential. “7 years later I am proud to say that we hosted
more than 2 million 800 thousand visitors, many of the visitors didn’t
know anything about Armenians, but today they are informed”, she said.

In 2015 a temporary exhibition on the Armenian Genocide was held in
the Museum. Sonya Arakelyan said it was successful, there were many
visitors, including lawmakers, actors, activities, businessmen and
journalists. More than 70.000 visitors attended the exhibition that
lasted 4 months. The exhibition was also displayed in the US.

Anna Gziryan


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#2 onjig

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Posted 01 November 2017 - 05:56 PM

https://armenpress.a...nt-sectors.html






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