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22


So far this year, FDI has risen by 20 per cent and tourism is up 12.3 per cent


Interviewed in the Financial Times


in June this year, Sarkissian declared Armenia “one of the new start-ups of the 21st century”. After it was previously dubbed a “Caucasian Tiger” by the World Bank back in 2007, Armenians might perhaps take this with a pinch of salt, but Sarkissian believes the 20th century was a century of natural resources and that the 21st will be one of human resources. Since Armenia lacks oil, coal and gas (although it still does have copper, molybdenum and some gold), it is probably best to concentrate on the human element. With a population of only three million


(although the diaspora is between seven and eight million), it is a finite resource, but Sarkissian’s theory is


that “small countries such as Armenia, Israel, Singapore and Ireland, often the victims of bigger powers in previous centuries, are well positioned to thrive in our own times because they are so adaptable”. It has certainly proved so in the past, even if that


CLOCKWISE FROM THS PAGE:The pagan Garni Temple; Geghard Monastery in Kotayk province; Garni Gorge; and Sevanavank Monastery on the shores of Lake Sevan


DE C EMB E R 20 19


adaptability has been forced upon it. Many countries are ancient in the sense that people have lived on a particular territory for millennia, but Armenia is unusual in having been known as such for at least 2,500 years. Classicists will know that the famous retreat of the Ten Thousand in Xenophon’s Anabasis takes place across the Armenian plateau, and its location by Mount Ararat and between two continents means that everyone from the Greeks, Persians, Muslims, Mongols and Mamluks have subjected it to periods of domination under their conquests and empires.


These troubles lasted into the modern age. The


Armenian genocide of 1890-1920, during which more than a million of its people perished, is still disputed by its much larger neighbour Turkey. As recently as last year, Umit Yalcin, ambassador for Turkey to the UK, wrote to the Financial Times about its coverage, calling its use of the word genocide “unacceptable and obviously disputable from a variety of standpoints, including legal and historical”. Armenia’s western border with Turkey is closed, and


as a result Turkish Airlines doesn’t make the short hop between Istanbul and Yerevan. In fact, a lack of air connections in general is a problem. There are daily flights to Yerevan’s Zvartnots International Airport with Aeroflot via Moscow, and Flydubai via Dubai, but other major carriers (Qatar Airways, Air France and Austrian Airlines) offer only a few flights each week. Ryanair has confi rmed it will launch fl ights in January. Wizz Air is planning to launch services. T is will help, because at the moment it does take determination to reach Armenia.


COMING HOME During my trip, by far the largest proportion of visitors I spoke to were the families of those who had reluctantly left for the likes of the US and Russia during the late 1980s and early 90s. Fluent in Armenian either because their childhood had been spent there or it was still the first language of their parents, many of them were thinking of returning and were on extended trips to learn more and to see for themselves the recent positive changes in the country. If this reverse brain drain could happen, then Sarkissian’s vision of a Singapore of the region would look even brighter.


bus ine s s tr a v el ler .c om


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