Armenia not to accept Russian as official language, local politicians and residents assert

On July 17, at a meeting with Ara Babloyan, the chair of the National Assembly of Armenia, Vyacheslav Volodin, Speaker for the Russian State Duma, suggested to accept the Russian language in Armenia as an official to secure the possibility for citizens of the country to work in Russia with driver's licences issued in Armenia.

In response to the proposal of his Russian counterpart, Ara Babloyan has stated that "there is no such issue on the agenda for Armenia." This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Arsen Babayan, the press secretary for the Armenian Parliament.

Tevan Pogosyan, the former deputy of the Armenian Parliament, has called the Vyacheslav Volodin's proposal "tactless" and suggested that it became possible in connection with the position that Armenia takes towards other countries.

In his turn, journalist Hayk Khalatyan has stated that the Armenian authorities should respond with an official refusal to the proposal voiced by Vyacheslav Volodin.

"We need to explain to Russian comrades that the population of our country consists of Armenians for almost 98%, and the Yezidis are the second largest minority in the republic," the journalist wrote on his page in Facebook.

In his comment to the Hayk Khalatyan's post, Mikey Fin, a Facebook user, has noted that in the country, there are many Armenians from the Middle East who do not speak Russian. "Why should we have Russian, or some other language, as an official language?" Mikey Fin wondered.

He believes that a "smooth Russification of Armenia" is taking place in such a way.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.