Armenians in Syria

The Armenians in Syria are Syrian citizens of either full or partial Armenian descent. Syria and the surrounding areas have often served as a refuge for Armenians who fled from wars and persecutions such as the Armenian genocide. However, there has been an Armenian presence in the region since the Byzantine era. According to the Ministry of Diaspora of Armenia, the estimated number of Armenians in Syria is 100,000, with more than 60,000 of them centralized in Aleppo. With other estimates by Armenian foundations in Syria putting the number around 70–80,000. However, since the start of the conflict, 16,623 Syrian citizens of ethnic Armenian background have arrived in Armenia. Of these displaced persons, 13,000 remained and found protection in Armenia as of July 2015. The government is offering several protection options including simplified naturalization by Armenian descent (15,000 persons acquired Armenian citizenship), accelerated asylum procedures and facilitated short, mid and long-term residence permits. According to Hranush Hakobyan only 15,000 Armenians are left in Syria and the rest have been settled in Armenia or Nagorno-Karabakh, with another 8,000 having left for Lebanon, and others going to destinations including Europe, the United States and Canada. However, Armenian foundations in Syria estimate around 35,000 are left based on rough estimates, including a method which multiplies the number of students enrolled in Armenian minority schools by 3 or 4, since minors would only take up around 25–30% of an age pyramid. The Syrian border villages of Kessab and Yakubiyah had Armenian majorities prior to the civil war. Kessab was attacked and looted by Islamist Syrian rebels who were given safe passage by Turkey through Turkish land, though they were later expelled by the Syrian Army. Yacubiyah had its Armenian population expelled by Jabhat al-Nusra. In 2018 Professor John Shoup said that the Armenian population in Syria formed about 2% of the country's total population, making them the fifth largest ethnic group in the country.