YEREVAN, DECEMBER 14, ARMENPRESS. Approximately more than 700 Armenians lives in Finland. They work in different fields and many of them reached success in their spheres.

Abgar Margaryan – one of the founders of the Finland-Armenia Association, told ARMENPRESS that the number of Armenians living in Finland is approximate since there is no concrete statistics.

“Some Armenians immigrated from different countries with different citizenships. Armenian is not the native language of all Armenians. And this factor hinders having an official valid statistics. Armenians are scattered in different cities”, he said.

Over the last years immigration began after the Middle East military operations, when Armenians of that region, in particular, of Syria relocated to the European counties, including Finland.

Like in the Armenian communities of different countries, the issue of preservation of the Armenian identity is also in the agenda of the Finnish-Armenian community. Before the registration of the Finland-Armenia Association, the Armenian community was holding different events in the country by the initiative of individuals. According to Abgar Margaryan, over the years the necessary rose to establish the organization, and starting from 2013 the Finland-Armenia Association started its activity which aims at gathering Armenians, creating an atmosphere of unity, organizing cultural events, as well as creating Armenian language and cultural groups for kids.

“Despite the Association’s short history it conducted a serious activity for the preservation of the Armenian identity. During this period different cultural events have been organized, a Sunday school of Armenian language has been established which operates already for several years. The Association also closely cooperates with the Diaspora ministry which provides the necessary materials for the activity of the Armenian school”, he said, stating that among the later goals is to create sports and dance groups.

One of the main goals of the Finland-Armenia Association is to actively cooperate with the Diaspora-Armenian communities and educational institutions. For this purpose the Association started establishing close ties with the Armenian communities of the neighboring states. The Association closely cooperates also with the Armenian Embassy in Finland and Sweden. There is also the representation of Armenian Apostolic Church in Finland. Two years ago the Armenian friendship group has been formed in the Parliament of Finland. The Development Fund of Armenia formed recently in Finland will also contribute to strengthening the ties with Armenia.

“As of now the Association doesn’t have its own space, that’s why we mainly rent, as well as cooperate with different NGOs which also assist on this issue. Among our major problems is that Armenians live in different cities, the distance makes difficult the communication and the opportunity to frequently participate in different events, but I would like to note that the number of active participants in the community live increases year by year”, Abgar Margaryan said.

As for Armenia’s recognition among the Finnish people, Abgar Margaryan said many are aware of Armenia and the Armenian people, but still works need to be done on this path.

“This year our Association was participating in the annual cultural festival in Helsinki within the frames of which we have presented Armenia for the first time. Many Finnish people were interested in the Armenian pavilion. Many approached us and told about Armenia, their trip to Armenia and the desire to again visit the country. This year we participated in the Restaurant Day festival which is quite famous festival. The ‘Taste Armenia’ Armenian pavilion recorded an unprecedented success. The event organizer Mariam Nurminen transferred the proceeds to needy families of Armenia’s bordering villages. We also have plans to more frequently participate in such festivals in the future”, he noted.

Armenia’s Finnish partners also greatly contribute to presenting Armenia in Finland. Margaryan informed that the Finnish people who visited Armenia leave the country with great impressions, many of them later again visit Armenia.

Another goal of the Association is the presentation and spread of the Armenian culture, history in Finland by holding different events which also contribute to voicing about the Armenian Genocide and Artsakh issues.