26 years after gaining independence, there is still room in Armenia for a heated debate on how to deal with the Soviet heritage.

In May 2017, Armenia commemorated 99th anniversary of the battles of Sardarapat, Bash-Aparan and Gharaklisa, known together as “mayisyan herosamart – the heroic battle in May”. Regional Post explains why the events of May 1918 are so important for Armenian collective memory.

Peter Edwards has been living in Armenia since August 2016. He talks about his experience working with the Citizen Observer Initiative and his impressions of Armenia’s parliamentary elections that were held on April 2nd 2017.

It is difficult to overestimate the role that repatriates have played and continue to play in different spheres of life in Armenia. The repatriation, which started from the very beginning of Armenia’s independence (the first Republic of Armenia) and continued in distinct stages from the 1920’s and 1930’s into the 1940’s and then during the 1960’s, is in some sense still ongoing, providing a source of hope to change the quality of life here in Armenia. This is by no means a comprehensive list of individuals born and raised in the diaspora who chose to settle with their families in Armenia (in and after the 1940’s), enriching Armenia’s culture and academic life. The list is of course a contentious one and therefore, admittedly, some personalities who played a very important role in their respective areas are not in the list due to the constraints of space.

One of the most striking examples of the collaboration between the Diaspora and Soviet authorities to help repatriates was the construction of the Nubarashen district. Today this district, being one of Yerevan's 12 administrative districts, also used to be one of the many Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) projects in Eastern Armenia.

The repatriation of the Armenian Diaspora was a unique event in the History of Armenia, an exceptional one in world history and can probably only be compared to the emigration of Jews from the Diaspora to Israel in scale. Repatriation changed both the lives of Armenians from the Diaspora and the face of Yerevan: the capital city of Soviet Armenia received cultural influences from Armenians who came from all over the world and they brought with them various traditions, knowledge and habits. But the process was not easy, especially for the ones who came to Armenia.

Since its founding in 2010, Ginosi Apartels has emerged as a tech-based travel company in Armenia, where it is a top employer of choice. With hotel operations in the US and Europe, Ginosi Apartels is headquartered in Yerevan, where nearly 100 employees manage the company’s apartels abroad using its technology backbone. The company has attracted talent from the global Armenian diaspora, which has been steadily trickling into Armenia following the country’s independence from the Soviet Union. Co-founder Areg Ginosian lived abroad for over 20 years before moving back to Armenia with his international apartel brand. RP sat down with him to discuss the advantages of living and operating an international company in Yerevan.

Vahe Keushguerian visited Armenia in late 1990’s for the first time and very soon got involved in the wine industry. Now he is a head of Semina Consulting’s team, a winery incubator and consulting firm and a co-founder of Impact Hub, a social innovation co-working space. Vahe told Regional Post about his projects and thoughts about repatriation.

Using diaspora’s potential is one of the key tools for Armenia to become a strong state with a successful society. That’s integration of repatriates is so important. To illustrate this truth Regional Post presents 11 repatriates who recently moved to Armenia and changed its cultural and business surface.

Victoria Aslanian CEO at Golden Grape ArmAs, tells the amazing story of foundation and rise of ArmAs wines, one of the creators and leaders of the renaissance of Armenian Wine.