Hundreds of Armenians in Syria have been queuing in front of the Syrian embassy in Armenia yesterday to vote in the disputed presidential election, which should see the election for a third term of President Bashar al-Assad, in the middle of a civil war that continues in his country.
The election denounced as a sham by the Syrian opposition, the West and most Arab countries, is scheduled for June 3 in Syria. For millions of Syrians who have fled the country, voting began yesterday.
It is estimated that 11,000 of them are of Armenian descent and found refuge in their ancestral homeland. During the past month, the Syrian Embassy in Yerevan invited to register with them to be allowed to vote.
At least several hundred of them have responded to the call, as evidenced by the long line that formed outside the embassy building in the morning. Many of these voters did not vote for their secret Assad. They hope that this will help to restore peace and stability in Syria.
Some still hope to return to Damascus, Aleppo and other Syrian cities where there were rich Armenian communities before the conflict began there three years. Krikor Stepanian, a former flower shop in Aleppo who now remodels apartments and shops in Yerevan, is one of them.
“I moved here two years ago, but I went back to Syria there seven months,” said Stepanian. “The situation there was terrible. I tried to bring my mother with me, but that was not possible. “
Other Armenian voters Syria said they decided to participate in the Syrian election, despite their intention to remain permanently in Armenia. One of them, Hrayr Agulian, has set up a small business making furniture in Yerevan. “I do not think they are really in opposition,” he said about the two challengers Assad.
“We have high hopes. Those who live in Syria or outside, Armenia and elsewhere, we hope that things will improve, “said Peggy Barsoumian a young woman. She said she and her family will soon open a jewelry store in the Armenian capital.