PRESIDENT KOCHARIAN ARGUES IN FAVOR OF LIFTING DUAL CITIZENSHIP BAN

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 3, ARMENPRESS: Armenian president Robert Kocharian argued today in favor of lifting a constitutional ban on dual citizenship saying because of the ban stipulated by the acting constitution, enacted in 1995, ‘ we are losing our citizens.” He said 470 former Armenians citizens lost their Armenian citizenship this year alone after receiving the citizenship of other countries.
During a meeting with the students of Yerevan State University Kocharian said around 70 percent of such citizens would like to retain their Armenian citizenship. “The strength of the country is not measured by the number of its permanent residents but also by the number of its citizens,” he said. Kocharian then said the authorities should in the first place think about what should be done to stop out-emigration and only then about bringing Armenians back to their homeland.