Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza
The events over Armenia’s accession to the Customs Union and the Eurasian Economic Union and development of Russian-Armenian relations are the focus of attention of the Armenian political and economic elites due to the importance of Russia for Armenia. At the same time, in the context of the dynamic development of military-political and trade and economic cooperation between the two countries, the cultural and educational component pales into insignificance. Even though the level of relations in this important sphere is satisfactory, it is not enough for the existing potential. Probably this vacuum is the reason for the problems with the Russian language in Armenia.
Many of those who think that they have a right to discuss this important and painful topic (in both countries, and especially in Russia) do not perceive the current situation adequately. For a proper evaluation and the development of effective measures in the problem of the Russian language in Armenia, we should objectively evaluate the situation, rather than use virtual approaches which not only prevent the development of the Russian language, but also damage Russian-Armenian relations.
The objective reality is that the dissolution of the Soviet Union not only destroyed economic ties, but also touched on the cultural and linguistic sphere. A radical change of the political and economic situation influenced the linguistic sphere and the role of the Russian language. The language policy built by Armenia after gaining independence naturally reflected the new political reality, i.e. a mono-ethnic population.
According to the last population census of 2011, 97.89% of the population are Armenians; only 2.11% represent ethnic minorities, and only 0.4% (11,911 people) are Russians. The number of Russians, as well as Yazidi (Yazidi is the biggest national group in Armenia) and representatives of other national minorities has fallen significantly in the last 25 years. In 1989 there were 51,555 Russians living in Armenia, i.e. 1.6% of the population. The main reasons for the outflow of Russians were the Spitak earthquake, the Karabakh war and the energy crisis. Another reason is that Russians couldn’t get a higher education in the Russian language in Armenia in the early years of independence. At the moment there is such a opportunity – in 1997 the Armenian-Russian (Slavic) University was opened in Yerevan.
So the main factor, which was the basis of the new language policy, was the mono-ethnic population. In 1990 the Armenian government decided to shut down Russian schools and launch compulsory education for ethnic Armenians. Education in Russian was available only for representatives of national minorities and children of mixed marriages. A small number of Russians, Ukrainians, Assyrians and others are taught in so-called Russian classes which operate in 42 schools of Armenia. Citizens of Russia study in these schools as well. Yazidi usually go to Armenian schools. In the Soviet period and these days Russians who live in Armenia speak Armenian fluently, unlike representatives of the Baltic nations, for instance. There is no problem of an absence of desire to learn Armenian on the part of Russians.
The new conditions adjusted the situation and limited the sphere of using the Russian language; and it is quite natural for a state where more than 98% of the population are Armenians. On the other hand, the level of Russian-language proficiency fell. This circumstance provokes an inadequate and unreasonable reaction from some Russian officials and experts who make thoughtless statements on the need to make the Russian language the second state language of Armenia. Even in the Soviet period it wasn’t so. Other Moscow “experts” are sure that the Russian language should become a language of international communication. So they think that Armenians and Yazidi should communicate in Russian. Such approaches are doomed to fail, as the Armenians provide a conservative language policy and believe that their native language is the most important element of the preservation of their national identity.
If the approaches are reasonable for such countries as Ukraine where almost 25% of the population consider themselves Russians or Russian-speaking people, or Kazakhstan where representatives of the Russian nation are about 23%, or Kyrgyzstan where Russians are the third major ethnic group, in the case of Armenia there are no grounds for this.
At the same time, it is possible to take steps on development of the Russian language in schools without hurting Armenian national feelings. There are large opportunities for development of Russian in Armenia in the context of promotion of one of the richest cultures of the world – Russian culture. The key aspects are the mutual benefits for Russia, which needs preservation of its influence in Armenia and for Armenia, whose population will get the opportunity to upgrade its Russian proficiency, one of the most popular languages in the world.
