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The recent few years were a true turning point for the Armenians living in Mexico, Jack Saհakyan, Mexican-Armenian businessman and community member told Panorama.am. 
According to him, about 5,000 people of Armenian descent live today in Mexico who until recently have not been consolidated into an organized community unlike their compatriots living in the US and Canada, Argentina and Uruguay.

“The opening of the Armenian Embassy greatly contributed to the consolidation of the Armenian community. That promoted the idea for any Mexican of Armenian descent about preserving own origin. And that is the reason of my being to Armenia today,” Sahakyan told.

The Armenian community of Mexico is small, albeit multilayered and popular. The community comprises of both ancestors of the Armenian Genocide survivors as well as people immigrated to Mexico from other regions, mainly from the Middle East and the Latin America.

To Jack Sahakyan, over the recent period people from Venezuela and Armenia comprise the most number. As he said, many, including the Armenians, visit Mexico with a purpose to eventually leave for the US, however, due to the high space of the economic development, most emigrants prefer to stay in Mexico. There are even cases when the Armenians living in the North America move to Mexico.

Armenians reside mainly in the capital Mexico City and engaged in various spheres of activity. To Jack Sahakyan words, despite the fact that the community is rather small, many names well-known in Mexico are of Armenian descent. He exemplified Rosa Gloria Chagoyan, an actress and a singer, Jose Sarukhan, a renowned biologist, academician, who served as the president of the Mexican Academy of Science (1983-1985) and the Rector of the National Autonomous University (1989-1997). The latter’s son, Arturo Sarukhan, is a quite known and influential Mexican Armenian. He used to serve as Mexican Ambassador to the United States and had a great leverage within the team of the Mexican President Felipe Calderon.

During his tenure in Washington, Arturo Sarukhan developed a notable activity in both for the development of the US-Mexico relations as well as scientific public relations in Washington. Furthermore, he used to cooperate with Armenian organizations and participate in the life of the American-Armenian community. Overall, Jack Sahakyan said “Mexicans like the Armenians and are font of maintaining friendships with us.”

As far as it concerns to the activity of the Armenian community in Mexico, Jack Sahakyan tells it was not formed until recently. “No Armenia was in Mexico,” he formulated and added next that one factor that facilitated the consolidation of the community was the Azerbaijani anti-Armenian activity, the other one - the positive dynamics in the diplomatic relations between Armenia and Mexico.

In 2012 a monument to Hayder Aliyev was placed in one of Mexico’s central parks. As revealed later on, Azerbaijan had paid for getting the respective permission through providing funds for the reconstruction of the parks sparing in total several millions of USD investments. The rapid reorganization and counteraction made the legislative body of the capital Mexico adopt a special decision ordering to demolish the monument, what was realized in due manner.

The other major event was the appointment of Armenia’s Ambassador to Mexico. Since 2013 when Ambassador Grigor Hovhannisyan took his post key progress was recorded in the identity perception and consolidation of the Mexican Armenians. Local Armenians visited the Ambassador and offered their support and assistance, while the latter on his part introduced a number of initiatives aimed at reorganization and unification of the community.

“Armenia today exists in Mexico,” Jack Sahakyan notes referring to the Embassy and the reorganization of the Armenian community. In 2014 the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide was marked for the first time in Mexico. “Two years ago His Holiness came from Los Angeles To Mexico and make a liturgy for the first time,”Kahayan recalled with nostalgia.

Since then, serious steps were taken toward both activating the community life of local Armenians and the development of the relations between Mexico and Armenia.

Thanks to efforts by Ambassador Grigor Hivhannisyan, in 2015 Gabriela Kuevas Baroni, the Head of Foreign Relations Committee of the Mexican Senate visited Armenia. And now we look forward to accepting the official from Armenia’s National Assembly.

“Months ago an Armenia-Mexico friendship interparliamentary group was formed in Mexican Congress,” Jack Sahakyan informed, adding that the visit of the Mexican parliamentarians and other officials to Armenia is about to be organized in the coming future.

“We want to position Armenia as a window to the region – to Russia, Iran. We should also introduce Armenia as a tourism destination. The whole Armenian history will interest the Mexicans, who value Christianity much,” Sahakyan emphasized, reminding that Mexico is one of the major Christian nations with a population of 120 million to whom that Christianity and the Christian solidarity is of great significance to them.

The aim of the local Armenians is to promote horizontal and humanitarian contacts aside from the development of the Armenian-Mexico relations. As a mean to achieve that goal some Armenian and Mexican districts should become twinned-cities, cultural events and exchange programs should be conducted.

“In economic terms, I think, Mexico can give much to Armenia. Though friendship should be at the basis of every relation. The steps underway are aimed at achieving that goal which I value in terms of their prospects. Overall, Mexico is member to G20 with corresponding leverage,” Jack Sahakan said, claiming that the basis for the relations are laid in a right way and further steps are needed to be taken up.

Mexican Armenians know their future task and today they look forward to receiving their new Ambassador. Former Ambassador to Mexico Grigor Hovhannisyan was appointed Armenian Ambassador to the United States and Mexican Armenians seek to meet the new Ambassador with expectations.