MPA: Krasnodar administration concerned about Armenians' migration

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Subject: MPA: Krasnodar administration concerned about Armenians' migration

From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>

Original sender: Eldar Zeynalov <[email protected]>

MPA: Krasnodar administration concerned about Armenians'
migration



(Translated from Russian by MINELRES) 


MPA News Agency <[email protected]>
6 July 2000 

MPA - <MIDIA-PRESS>
Azeraijan, Baku
 
KRASNODAR: CONCERN OVER RESETTLEMENT OF ARMENIANS TO BLACK SEA COAST
OF RUSSIA

BAKU. 5 July. MPA: It seems that "the Armenian question" is becoming
an undesirable problem, requiring radical action, for the authorities
of Russia's Black Sea coast. It is difficult to predict what this
action will include. One thing is clear: the Krasnodar krai
authorities have raised an alarm forecasting the far-reaching
consequences of the change of the region's demographic situation.
Anxiety is displayed in mass media. For example, local newspaper
"Kubanskie novosti" ("The Kuban News") on 21 June pubished a statement
of the head of the Krasnodar krai administration Nikolay Kharchenko,
made at the meeting devoted to migration processes and inter-ethnic
relations in the krai. Mr Kharchenko mentioned the fact of "intensive
growth of the numbers of Armenian, Meskhetian Turk, Kurd, Georgian,
Azeri ethnic groups", and pointed to "clearly manifested trend of
declining the number of the Slavic population because of natural
decrease".   

A big part of the head of administration's speech was devoted to
"purposeful resettlement of the Armenian population from their
historic homeland to Kuban". After him, "the so called 'Armenian
problem' is getting particularly urgent in Sochi, where, as a result
of unregulated migration, the Armenian population has doubled in
number". As Mr Kharchenko pointed out, Armenian public associations
have been established in this resort city, and some leaders of these
associations, as well as criminal leaders of Armenian ethnicity,
mature an idea of creating Armenian national-territorial district in
Adler". To achieve this goal, the head of administration said, they
are going to influence members of the Sochi minicipal council with the
purpose to initiate division of the city to several krai-subordinated
districts, and afterwards to transform the Adler disctrict into a
separate administrative unit. Then, through referendum, to create in
Adler "the Armenian national district". In conclusion, Kharchenko
stressed that "we encounter the purposeful resettlement of the
Armenian population from their historic homeland to Kuban".      

According to the data of the State Committee of Statistics of the
Russian Federation, the 241,000 strong Armenian population of Kuban
makes up second biggest group after ethnic Russians. In reality,
according to assessment of demographers and of the Armenian diaspora
itself, around 800,000 Armenians reside in the krai. Naturally, this
cannot but cause concern on the part of the local population,
particularly Cossacks."

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