Interesting cultural trademark whereby we flourish only under someone else's rule...

A big thank you Raffi for leading me to this article.

Two years ago a friend told me an article in an Armenian paper which discussed the trend that Armenians tend to be highly successful living in other countries, under other people's rule.

Generally the Armenian Diaspora flourishes. And yet, Armenians cannot get it together when it must govern itself. This is applicable to every little Armenian community that spends more time having tiffs and skirmishes about petty things than producing actual results, and it is applicable to the fact that we can't seem to govern our country properly.

Furthermore, the Armenians that are successful in the Diaspora seem to do it alone. They are generally not heavily involved with the community, and only use their Armenian-ness as a trump card when it's useful, or once they've already made it for themselves.

At any rate, the positive news is that Armenians are notably doing well for themselves in the UK. Maybe we should just give up our little land mass here in the Caucasus and take over the world by living in other countries ;-)


The Sunday Times

September 10, 2006

Found: migrants with the mostestRobert Winnett and Holly Watt
Survey pinpoints ethnic winners and losers in 'melting pot' Britain

ARMENIAN immigrants and their descendants are the most successful ethnic group in the country, according to an analysis of “melting pot” Britain.

They are followed by the Japanese, Dutch and Greek Cypriots among the groups who are economically and socially most successful. Bangladeshi Muslims and migrants from Sierra Leone and Syria have fared worst.

The new analysis places the 42.2m adults registered to vote in mainland Britain in 200 ethnic groups — on the basis of a person’s surname and first name....


Of the 2,651 people of Armenian descent in Britain, more than 1,600 run businesses and a high proportion live in expensive parts of west London.

Among the most successful is Bob Manoukian, property developer and former agent for Prince Jefri of Brunei. He has a family fortune of £300m, according to The Sunday Times Rich List.
Other successful people with Armenian roots include David Dickinson, presenter of the BBC’s Bargain Hunt, and Ara Palamoudian, chairman of the Armenian community & church council of Great Britain.

He said: “Armenians have always tried to be self-sufficient and not to be a burden on any country. It could be the history of the Armenian people, the way their lives have been over centuries. They had to find shelter around the world.”

Many Armenians fled to England after the first world war, during which up to 1.5m died, amid allegations of genocide by the Turks. Other waves arrived in the 1970s and 1980s.


Full article: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2350633,00.html