by David Zenian
BAGHDAD - Thousands of Armenians have left Baghdad since the end of the Gulf War, and some local community leaders are afraid many will not come back.
"I do not have specific numbers, but many Armenians - thousands - have left since Iraq eased travel restrictions in May this year ... While some are vacationing, many others will just stay out and not come back," an Armenian church official told a visiting reporter. The official, who declined to be identified, blamed Iraq's declining economy and other war related hardships for the departure of the Armenians from Baghdad and other cities.
Iraq has never had a very large Armenian community, and according to recent estimates, only 20,000 remain.
"Hundreds left during the Iraq-Iran war ... and many have left after the Gulf War ... the community is rapidly shrinking," an Armenian engineer said.
Like their brothers in Iran, the Armenians of Iraq settled in the area long before the 1915 massacres in Turkey and the expulsion of fellow Armenians to nearby Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.
"Iraqi Armenians are an old community. There are four Armenian churches in Baghdad alone and one each in the northern Kurdish cities of Kirkuk and Zakho, one in Mosul and another in Basra," said Armenian church employee Barouyr Orchanian.
"St. Mary is the oldest church in Baghdad ... It was built in 1638, and since then it has been renovated several times.
According to Orchanian and other Iraqi Armenians interviewed in Baghdad, the Armenian community dates back its presence in Iraq to at least 500 years.
"As a small ethnic group we enjoy good relations with the government ... We have no problems ... We have a nice and active community," he said.