What is the number of Armenians living in Bulgaria, when did the first Armenian settlers arrive in Bulgaria, where is the oldest Armenian church in this country and what are the similarities between our two nations in historical and cultural terms?

Armenians in Bulgaria are one of the small ethnic communities in this country but also one of the brightest presences. Hardly many Bulgarians (and people across the world) have some knowledge of Armenian history, but when a Bulgarian national starts reading more about the history of this nation, one can not help feeling that it is as if they are reading the history of their own nation. The beginning of the Armenian state can be sought somewhere in the V-VI century B.C., but during most centuries ever since, the Armenians have had to assert their independence, their right of their own name and culture. On the high plateaus around the biblical Mount Ararat, in the valleys of the rivers that flow into the Tigris and Euphrates, the Armenian kingdom was at one point expanding, at another point shrinking, and there were even times when it ceased its existence. And the empires which were its main opponent, Byzantium and the Ottoman Empire, are well known to Bulgarians, as well. Over the past two centuries, Russia played an important role in the history of these two nations, too.
The territories of the two nations are at a relatively great distance from each other, but in a sense they became almost neighbors during the time when the Slavs and Bulgars (Proto-Bulgarians) settled in the Balkans. The reason for this was the Byzantine Empire that displaced people from its eastern border regions to the regions of its western border and vice versa, and also the fact that many Armenians held high positions in the empire, including the imperial throne. There are traces of these connections in an Armenian book with the four gospels from 966 found in the Bachkovo monastery near Plovdiv in Southern Bulgaria. It is considered one of the oldest surviving manuscripts in Armenian and is now kept in the National Library “St. St. Cyril and Methodius” in Sofia.

What are the other similarities between the history and culture of Bulgarians and Armenians?
The history and culture of Armenians are also characterized by other features that bring them closer to Bulgarians. Armenians are proud of the fact that their country was the first to adopt Christianity as the state religion - in 301. The connection of the church to the state separated it from the church in the Roman Empire. This independence of the Armenian Church increased also after it did not accept the decisions taken at the Fourth Ecumenical Council in 451 held in Chalcedon in Asia Minor. Furthermore, the adoption of Christianity involves the establishment of the Armenian script and Armenian literature. So it was in Bulgaria - the Christianization of the country was advanced by the Cyrillic alphabet and the liturgical literature translated into the language that ordinary people spoke.
Independent from Constantinople and Rome alike, the Armenian Church is undoubtedly one of the factors that underpin the identity of Armenians and turn them into one of the nations whose worldwide Diaspora exceeds several times the number of people living in their official country.

What about the Armenian Diaspora in Bulgaria?
There is no definite evidence of an Armenian Diaspora in the Bulgarian lands before the Ottoman invasion (14th century). The oldest Armenian church in Bulgaria is situated in the town of Silistra, northeastern Bulgaria, on the Danube. According to an inscription found during repairs, it was built in 1620 (1069 in the Armenian calendar). The church possesses valuable antiques and many books, including a bible dating back to 1686. The earliest Armenian tombstones in Bulgaria date back to the same period, the late 17th century. During the Ottoman rule, Armenian communities existed mainly in large cities such as Plovdiv, Ruse, Varna, Silistra, and Shumen.
In fact, Bulgarian Armenians are not among the large groups of their worldwide Diaspora. Their number increased sharply in the tragic period of persecution of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire which began in the 1890s under Sultan Abdul Hamid II and lasted until the end of the Greco-Turkish war in 1922. It is believed that in that period, some 25,000 people found shelter in Bulgaria. In the small museum at the Armenian Church in Plovdiv one can see church plate brought by Armenian refugees from Eastern Thrace (in present day a region in European Turkey).
The number of new emigrants exceeded more than twice the older Armenian settlers and many of them had lost their families. An enormous effort was needed for their accommodation and for their integration. Armenian schools were opened in 13 Bulgarian towns, and Sofia and Plovdiv had two schools each. Studies of everyday culture and folklore of the Armenians in Bulgaria show that during the 20th century, the Armenian community in Bulgaria virtually started rebuilding itself from scratch, overcoming the differences between old and new settlers and among Armenian emigrants from different countries and different backgrounds.
After two deportations to Soviet Armenia (1930s and after World War II) and one to the U.S. (1968), today the Armenian community in Bulgaria is relatively small: no more than 7,000 people. However, it is characterized by high education and a strong presence in the social and cultural life. The names of figures such as writers Sevda Sevan and Agop Melkonian, of journalist Kevork Kevorkian, composers Villi Kazasyan and Haigashod Agasyan, theater director Krikor Azarian, singer and music teacher Stefka Onikyan, painter Edmond Demirdjian, athletes Nurair Nourikyan and Julia Berberian are very well known to every Bulgarian.
The mutual trust and sympathy between Bulgarians and Armenians has found expression in numerous anecdotes told here about Armenians because, as we know, only very good friends can joke with each other. 

English version: Rossitsa Petkova