Today, Hranush Hakobyan, Minister of the Diaspora, announced that the ministry had signed protocols with Yerevan State University, the Armenian Academy of Sciences and the Armenian Writers Union, designed to strengthen Armenia-Diaspora links. The minister noted with pride that a Faculty of Diaspora Studies had been launched at Yerevan State University and that diaspora and art divisions will be opened within the Academy's Institute of Literature. According to the agreement with the Writers Union an almanac of diaspora Armenian writers will soon be published.

When asked by reporters about the issue of repatriation, Minister Hakobyan pointed out that while there remained serious problems in the integration process, Armenians from the Diaspora came to Armenia during the most difficult years of 1992-1994 and remained. "Under the rubric of 'repatriation' we wish to convey not only the concept of the physical return to Armenia but also a "return to Armenianess", especially in the case of those removed from their identity and the motherland. Minister Hakobyan declared that conditions must be created in Armenia that will attract individuals from the Diaspora to move here.