The Armenian Diaspora ( Spyurk)

Historical Background
Due to its strategic geopolitical position, Armenia has throughout its history served as a stage of confrontation between the leading powers of the Western Asia . The long-winding military conflict between the Roman and its successor Byzantine Empire and Persia culminated, in 387 AD, with the loss of the Armenian statehood as Armenia was for the first time in its history divided between those two states. The date can be conditionally set as the beginning of the Armenian Diaspora as hereafter the mass emigration from the homeland would come to be one of defining factors of the history of the Armenian people.

In centuries since, just like any other people anywhere in the world, the Armenian emigration from their homeland would be caused by three main factors: economic, religious, and political. In addition to these, the Armenian people, left without an independent government of their own, were also driven out by the foreign potentates' policy of ethnic persecution and oppression. Consequently, the mass migration of the Armenians had occurred in variety of directions and forms, whether voluntary or forced, by way of deportation and repatriation, across many states or even continents.

Already in 3rd and 4th centuries AD, during the reigns of Persian Sassanian Kings Ardashir and Shapur II, the first recorded mass deportation of the Armenians took place. The Armenians were forcibly relocated in the Khuzistan and other regions of Persia . The Byzantine policy of displacing the indigenous Armenian population was of more consistent nature: for several centuries the Armenians were forced to relocate to the western regions of the Empire, including the Balkan regions of Thrace and Macedonia . The emigration of the Armenian nobility and military elite resulted in their diffusion into the highest ranks of the Byzantine government system, culminating in the establishment of the Macedonian or Armenian imperial dynasty (867-1057).
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Second Armenia - Diaspora Conference, Yerevan, May, 2002

o Armeniadiaspora
o Hayastan All Armenian Fund
o Armenian General Benevolent Union
o Armenian National Committee of Armenia
o Armenian Assembly of Armenia
o Armenian Social Democratic Hunchakian Party
o Armenian Revolutionary Federation
o Armenian Democratic Liberal Party
o Armenian Relief Society
o The Armenian American Republican Council
o Hamazgayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Society
o Homenetmen - Western USA
o Homenetmen - Eastern USA
o Armenian International Woman's Association
o Armenian Engineers and Scientists of America
o Armenian Portal of Greater Washington Area
o Armenian Youth Federation Eastern USA
o Armenian American Democratic Council
o Armenian Youth Federation Western USA
o The Armenian Library and Museum of America

 
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