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Corruption main cause of emigration – Armenian opposition leader

Armenia Materials 6 October 2011 12:22 (UTC +04:00)
Armenia's first president, leader of the opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC), delivered a speech in Liberty Square.
Corruption main cause of emigration – Armenian opposition leader

Armenia's first president, leader of the opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC), delivered a speech in Liberty Square, Tert.am reported.

According to him, Armenia's problem number one is the demographic situation and emigration. Ter-Petrosyan said that the problems should be considered from the following aspects: historical, emotional and psychological, gene pool, political, preservation of the nation and its security.

Speaking of emigration "at the genetic level", Ter-Petrosyan said that it is mostly intellectuals, as well as skilled workers, builders and farmers, that are inclined to emigrate.

The ANC leader stressed that the 1989 census showed Armenia's population to be 3.5m. "At present, we have only 2.5m. I do not want to frighten you, but our nation is facing a disaster. If things go on like this, we will disappear. Even if Armenia remains a state, we will turn into a Luxembourg in the middle of the ocean. In 30 years, we will be a state with a population of one million. It can only be called genocide. Emigration means population decline, a smaller and, consequently, less efficient, army," Ter-Petrosyan said.

He pointed out two objective causes of emigration, saying that none of the three Armenian presidents has been able to put an end to them. "First, the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. Second, the blockade. We are a landlocked country without a railway," Ter-Petrosyan said. "Neither Mongols nor Turks - no one has ever robbed our people in such a way as our own authorities are robbing," the ANC leader said.

Corruption is the main cause of emigration. The second is absolute lawlessness, Ter-Petrosyan said.

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