The largest circulation Armenian e-magazine, circulates every Thursday. Est.

1999
Issue: 1 April 2011

FROM THE PAST OF THE COMMUNITY

NERKAGHT

Alexander-Michael Hadjilyra - A Pan-Armenian movement, the nerkaght took place

over a long period of time, when Soviet Armenia called upon the patriotic sentiments of
Diasporan Armenians, in order to migrate to their homeland, their ultimate destination.
The biggest wave was between 1946-1949, with 102.277 nerkaghtoghner. In 1947,
nearly 2.000 Armenian-Cypriots had registered to go (nearly half of the community), but
eventually didnt, as the quota was filled from elsewhere. The very active Hayastani
Paregamats Mioutiun and its mouthpiece, the Nor Arax newspaper, were the prime
supporters of the Gibrahayots nerkaghti sharjoum.
When the final nerkaght fever broke out in 1962, Armenian-Cypriots were amongst the
first and most passionate who wanted to go, with about 800 having registered (about a
fourth of the community). The Henaran newspaper and the local AGBU branches were
the prime supporters of this movement, together with two liaison officers at the Soviet
Embassy and the very active Cyprus-Soviet Association. The left-wing Greek-speaking
Haravgi newspaper provided extended coverage of the issue. Although my research is
still ongoing, I did manage to find that the ones who did go went in three batches, in
1962, 1963 and 1964. The majority were placed in Girovagan (Vanatsor), while some
were placed in Leninagan (Gyumri).
Having bought the dreams and promises sold by an influential group of people who,
although they fervently organised the movement, would not themselves go, the
nerkaghtoghner were almost immediately disillusioned by the grim reality they faced, as
they were not accustomed to that sort of life. After going through numerous ordeals, the
vast majority eventually managed to come back, mainly from Baku. As far as I know,
the ardakaght started in 1967 and continued until a few years ago. For those who
returned, as well as many others, the nerkaght is a controversial matter: torn between
their love for Hayastan and what they experienced, they seldom talk about the issue.