JUNE 5, ARMENPRESS. Some 5,000 Armenians currently live in Latvia, according to unofficial statistical data, against the official 3,500. Similar to people of other nationalities living in Latvia, Armenians also face significant difficulties.
Latvia grants citizenship to other nationalities with difficulties and people with "non-citizen" status are deprived of election rights, cannot work in state institutions and some services, namely fire company, medicine, etc.
Nevertheless, Armenian community, which is the biggest in Baltic countries, manages to put together national matters inside the community, among which are many intellectual people enjoying state acknowledgement.
The community is referring to Armenia's history and responding
to current situation as much as possible. These days the jubilee events of the
100-th anniversary of birth of Aram Khachatrian are under way, an evening of
poetry dedicated to Armenian writer Hrant Matevosian has recently been organized,
a decade of Armenian music, with participation of Musicians from Latvia and
Lithuania, held by the initiative of the pianist Raffi Kharajanian. Also, the
local radio station broadcasts once a month a half-an-hour cultural program.