National Scout Movement of Armenia

Membership badge of Haï Ari

Hayastani Azgayin Scautakan Sharjum Kazmakerputiun (HASK; Template:Hayeren) is the Armenian National Scout Movement since 1997.

History

Scouting in Armenia began sometime around 1912, then later developed abroad among the refugees who had survived the genocide of 1915-1916 and among those that had fled the new communist occupation of their lands, at which point Scouting ceased to exist in Armenia.

Haï Ari (in French Association des Scouts Armeniens, in English Association of Armenian Scouts) was a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement from 1928 to 1997. The organization was recognized "in exile," with headquarters and approximately 1,100 members in France.

In 1929, World Scouting recognised the association of Armenian Scouts (Haï Ari), based in France. While the Association did not have its own territorial base, it exceptionally remained a member of the World Organization and the European Scout Region. As soon as the independent Republic of Armenia emerged in 1991, the French-based association of Armenian Scouts expressed its wish that Scouting in Armenia should become a part of World Scouting as soon as possible. It helped in the process of creating a national Scout organization in Armenia.

In 1994, Hayastani Azgayin Scautakan Sharjum Kazmakerputiun (HASK - the Armenian National Scout Movement) was born. HASK now has over 2,368 members (as of 2004), boys and girls, spread throughout the entire Republic. The French-based Armenian Scouts, which expressed its desire to withdraw from membership in order to allow Scouting in Armenia to become a member of the World Organization, has thus ceased to exist as a member of the World Organization. Membership in the World Organization has passed to Hayastani Azgayin Scautakan Sharjum Kazmakerputiun (HASK), the Armenian National Scout Movement) since April 18, 1997. On that date, the number of national member organizations of the World Organization rose to 144. The new Armenian National Scout Movement was represented at the 18th World Jamboree in the Netherlands.

The Scout Motto is "Misht Badrast", translating as "Always Ready" in Armenian. The Armenian noun for a single Scout is Սկաուտ, transliterated Scaut.

Scouting in Nagorno-Karabakh

Scouting might also be developed in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, but as Armenian-controlled territory within Azerbaijan, it is unknown whether Scouts there would be aligned to Hayastani Azgayin Scautakan Sharjum Kazmakerputiun or to Azərbaycan Skaut Assosiasiyasi.