Czech-Armenians relations : a brief historical survey

Armenian studies in Czech Republic became more widely known to Czech public in recent years. Following up the long tradition of Oriental studies ingeneral, a newly re-established research centre was opened at the Department of East-European Studies at Charles University, aiming to cooperate with other colleagues. After long and heated discussions, Czech Republic decided on (albeit nonofficial) recognition of Armenian Genocide and supports initiatives to prevent suchviolence in future. Several monographs dealing with this subject were published recently. And finally, despite the fact that the Czech Republic has no historical experience with the presence of Armenian diaspora before the year 1990, well establishedand coherent Armenian community exists here now and – especially in Prague – shows a high degree of integration into Czech majority. Already two generations of Czech Armenians are following their identity strategies while preserving their owncultural identity.