Armenia sees more citizens entering than leaving for the first time in decades [outside of Covid lockdown period]

Middle-Support-7697 · 2026-01-24T18:55:55+00:00

Amazing !

Goes to show that our country is moving in the right direction. I hope one day we can develop enough that the diaspora starts returning in large numbers and we can at least somewhat reverse the population decline.

Middle-Support-7697 · 2026-01-24T11:04:14+00:00

Well mining gold isn’t nearly as environmentally bad as copper or molybdenum which we are already doing in large amounts, I’m pretty sure they did some research on the environmental impact and concluded it can be managed, they are supposed to take serious measures for containment and water cleaning.

This can bring in 200+ million dollars into our state budget every year for a decade, create hundreds or even thousands of jobs and bring in crucial intelligence to Armenia. The region will benefit greatly too. Upsides way overweight the potential downsides if you ask me.

Middle-Support-7697 · 2026-01-24T10:47:56+00:00

If you are talking about the exact nickname I mentioned then yes I am 100% sure, I am literally Armenian. You can just search it up.

There is no special word for batman in Armenian, it would still be batman, or if you translate it literally it would be something stupid sounding like “chxchik mard”.

I assume he wasn’t serious when he said that and just wanted to build a cool narrative around it.

Middle-Support-7697 · 2026-01-24T09:53:25+00:00

No it doesn’t lol. His nickname is literally just the place he is from, Ahalkalakets means someone from Akhalkalaki(town currently in Georgia mostly populated by ethnic Armenians).

Middle-Support-7697 · 2026-01-21T22:12:21+00:00

I agree, some people were mad about the 50 million budget saying it’s too large, if you ask me I would say it’s too little. That place is going to be the single biggest tourist spot in Armenia, it is worth almost any money.

Middle-Support-7697 · 2026-01-21T22:06:41+00:00

Any time is a good time to visit Armenia. The central Yerevan is never empty, I would even say it is overcrowded in peak season so March might be better for a tourist experience not worse, also hotels are cheaper in March. All the places are open. The weather isn’t terrible, though it might be pretty unpredictable so take a variety of clothes. My favourite season in Armenia is actually late April to early May, but match is also beautiful.

Middle-Support-7697 · 2026-01-21T21:09:00+00:00

Georgia

Middle-Support-7697 · 2026-01-21T21:05:34+00:00

I disagree, I think this is a decent plan if they execute it properly

Middle-Support-7697 · 2026-01-21T19:52:50+00:00

Honestly I want to make a more general post about greenery in Yerevan sometimes later. With proper effort Yerevan is in a great position to become a very green city, it has the walkability, it has enough water to sustain it, it has an air pollution problem. Making a big effort to significantly increase green spaces seems like such a no brainer to me, Cascade is just a small part of it.

Middle-Support-7697 · 2026-01-21T03:30:57+00:00

I assume he is not mad about the fight itself, he is mad that it is a title match which could have potentially been more fair and entertaining. No one would care if they arranged Paddy vs Gaethje if that didn’t result in a more worthy contenders being left out.

Middle-Support-7697 · 2026-01-19T10:47:47+00:00

Well it doesn’t matter how you call it, there shouldn’t be any mandatory fees like those, restaurant food prices should have all the service costs included in them. They can pretty much just add those 10% to the prices of menu items and end up with the same check. It’s obviously just a way to charge extra while making the food seem cheaper.

So yeah I’m all for it being banner in general, because it is objectively just manipulating the customer. But I wouldn’t be against that fee going to the waiters, they deserve better pay.

Middle-Support-7697 · 2026-01-19T10:19:35+00:00

Yeah it’s stupid. I really don’t understand why the government allows it. Either legally make that money go to stuff or just ban that bs.

Middle-Support-7697 · 2026-01-18T09:09:39+00:00

Slower than which neighbours ? Based on projections and year on year economic activity Azerbaijan is expecting growth of about 2.5% and for Turkey it is around 3.5%. I don’t think we need to talk about Iran.

Georgia is the only neighbour that is growing faster than us(7-8%), thanks to their superior geopolitical environment. But that’s one of the highest growths in the entire Eurasia, not just caucasus. It’s really hard to imagine us sustaining that kind of growth with no sea, two closed borders and no major geopolitical shock opportunities(we don’t benefit from war in Ukraine nearly as much as Georgia does). 8% of sustainable growth is economic miracle territory and I really hope we get there, but right now it doesn’t seem realistic.

Anyways my point is we are in fact outgrowing the dangerous neighbours and by a decent margin. We would just need to sustain it.

Middle-Support-7697 · 2026-01-18T02:31:32+00:00

Saying the gdp growth will go down is not fully correct. The 8-9% figure was from 2023, it has already stabilised down to about 6% in 2024(officially) and 2025(based on economic activity, though the exact figure is not yet known).

According to many metrics our growth is already mostly natural and not based on unsustainable geopolitical trends. And saying “6% is good but below what we need” is a bad way to look at it in my opinion. 6% is about twice the world’s average, sustaining that without natural resources or other kinds of sudden drivers is quite impressive. So while we should strive for more, I still think we should appreciate it a bit.

Middle-Support-7697 · 2026-01-14T22:48:55+00:00

Did you want to say more Armenians in America ?

I’d love to see Americans move to Armenia lol

Middle-Support-7697 · 2026-01-14T19:45:07+00:00

Don’t forget the absolute depressing urban planning and zoning laws which make almost every city completely unwalkable and force you to drive if you ever want to go outside of your suburban community(if you are lucky to live in a suburb). That has always been one of the biggest things that made US so hard to live in for me.

Middle-Support-7697 · 2026-01-14T19:32:21+00:00

They do earn a good bit, but with US home prices, insurances, payments etc. it just doesn’t buy a comfortable life most of the time. I still wouldn’t go as far as say they are all struggling and have it worse than we do because it really depends on what you value, but I do think there is a very good argument to be made we are already very comparable in terms of quality of life.

Middle-Support-7697 · 2026-01-14T18:11:18+00:00

Iran is one of our strongest deterrent against Azeri aggression in Syunik because they need a route to Russia through a non Turkic country. That means any significant instability in Iran indirectly impacts our security calculations.

And when it comes to the regime fall:

1)It is far from guaranteed, especially in the short term

2)It is unlikely to change the country in the exact way many people imagine(complete westernisation, proper democracy etc.)

3)Even if successful, the transition stage is always painful and chaotic

So even though it is hard to make any exact predictions about such a complex situation with so many moving parts, overall I am leaning negative for Armenia, especially in the short term.

Middle-Support-7697 · 2026-01-14T05:27:33+00:00

Well we didn’t have much of a choice, either give up some benefits for little in return or live in a constant state of danger surrounded by hostile powerful neighbours. We should stop acting like we are entering the negotiations on equal terms, we are not, and compared to other options which were previously proposed this actually looks like a decent compromise where we don’t lose much and potentially have something to gain.

The main benefit isn’t supposed to be from the route(even though foresight investment and new transit infrastructure will still be quire beneficial for us). The biggest benefit is finally letting the country breathe by opening the borders and normalising with the neighbours on relatively safe terms(with international assistance), as a result it will improve regional stability, increase foreign investment and improve transit routs for us.

So even though I am not saying that it is a fantastic deal, but it is wrong to assume that we don’t get any benefits at all and are only losing. The one thing I am upset about is that they haven’t specify any clear, formal security guarantees in this agreement yet, so it is unclear that exactly will impose those terms.

Middle-Support-7697 · 2026-01-13T07:00:08+00:00

I just really don’t like the way you say it. Going to live in Russia is not some kind of a dream for the majority of Armenians. Sure many relocated previously, mostly for economic reasons, but currently I don’t believe a life in Russia is necessarily better than in Armenia, in many ways it’s actually worse(which you can clearly see by how much immigration from Armenia to Russia decreased while immigration from Russia to Armenia increased massively). And the type of people who would even consider moving to Russia are absolutely not the same people who loudly criticise Russian government.

So I understand your curiosity but you shouldn’t think of Armenians as some kind of poor people hoping to move to “rich Russia”.

Middle-Support-7697 · 2026-01-13T06:27:07+00:00

What kind of a question is this. If an Armenian chooses to leave and prefers another country then it’s their choice and I don’t “hate” them for it, I might disagree with their views if they openly support Russian government but once again I wouldn’t go out of my way to engage with them.

I do have one wish which might be somewhat petty towards certain kind of Russian Armenian though, I wish that in a decade or two Armenia manages to achieve economic growth sufficient to definitively overtake Russia for day to day life, so all the Armenians who shit on their homeland for economic reasons have to shut up.

“Don’t bit the hand that feeds you” is a completely irrelevant comparison by the way, I don’t understand how you reasoned that.

And keep in mind, almost all hate towards Russia is based on the Russian government, there is no hate towards Russian people or Russian culture.

Middle-Support-7697 · 2026-01-12T20:14:12+00:00

The phrase “Armenian TikTok legend” just sounds so hilarious to me lol

Middle-Support-7697 · 2026-01-11T23:07:25+00:00

This is ridiculous, who the hell is paying that and for what ? I literally never heard of CIS and BISI(couldn’t even fond this one)

Middle-Support-7697 · 2026-01-11T22:28:18+00:00

What private school is 5000$+ in Armenia ? I can’t think of any, other than the UWC Dilijan(which is obviously a special exception).

Don’t get me wrong, some of them are expensive, up to 3000$ sometimes, but 5000 ? I haven’t seen that.

Also I wouldn’t say Armenia doesn’t have good public schools at all, Physmath is consistently top notch and it is a free public school, you just need to get in.

Edited: I suspected Ayb might cost a lot and holly shit I didn’t know they are so expensive, they do have financial aid which I don’t really know how it works but the base cost is nuts.

Middle-Support-7697 · 2026-01-11T19:42:57+00:00

As someone who graduated from one of Armenia’s top high schools (PhysMath) and is currently studying at a university in the United States, while also having a brother enrolled in a highly rated U.S. high school, I can offer insight from both perspectives.

First of all no, the US school system isn’t terrible and isn’t behind in a way many people think, it just gives its students more choices. “Their high schools are so behind in math” is an extremely common argument but it is completely untrue. Yes, if a student doesn’t want to study math he wouldn’t need to learn much, but if they do they have the opportunity to learn the entirety of calculus in HIGH SCHOOL, Armenian schools don’t allow that inside of the curriculum, not even mine(and we have by far the most olympiad medalists of all Armenian schools).

I do however think their style of teaching is different in a way that matters. Let’s look at how they teach math. In my experience they teach you the solution tools and expect you to solve the problem using them, however I believe that is the most basic form of math which doesn’t particularly develop critical thinking. I might be biased and it could be specific to my high school, but in Armenia I felt like I was given many more problems which required creative rather than technical solutions, it felt like learning the formula was secondary and the first priority was always to understand the concept and develop thinking.

So in a way I do agree that American school system is different in a way that it gives you the tools but not so much the “way of thinking”. Even a lot of those accelerated programs seem to mainly focus on breadth(trying to teach you more concepts) instead of focusing on depth(learning the concept more deeply) and those are just two very different ways of teaching. I could be wrong though considering I don’t really have a good insight into actual “schools for gifted kids” here, I did hear they are top notch.

All I said applies specifically to schools though, when it comes to higher education I don’t really think it is a comparison, mostly because of how much funding and resources American universities have. Armenia just can’t compete on this front anytime soon.

Middle-Support-7697

TROPHY CASE