Christians from Syria and Egypt seek refuge in the Caucasus
15:57 27.07.2013
Christian minorities from both Egypt and Syria are starting to look to
the South Caucasus countries of Georgia and Armenia as a refuge from
violence and uncertainly, Nicholas Clayton writes in an article
published by the GlobalPost.
The choice isn’t as random as it may seem. Sandwiched between Turkey,
Iran and Russia’s predominately Muslim North Caucasus regions, both
Georgia and Armenia have ancient Christian traditions dating back to
the 4th century. Their churches are closely related to the Copts and
other Eastern Christian confessions.
Georgia has issued nearly 2,000 visas to Egyptians this year – almost
all to Coptic Christians – after giving out just 222 last year. The
country of 4.5 million now estimates about 2,500 Egyptians live there.
Armenia has gone as far as announcing the creation of `New Aleppo’ – a
housing development outside the capital Yerevan that has reportedly
drawn interest from 600 Syrian Armenian families. Besides, Yerevan
offers passports to Syrians with Armenian heritage at its consulates
in Syria.
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