At the time of the Balkan Wars ( 1912 – 1913 ) the Armenians in Bulgaria numbered about 35,000 . During this time the legendary Armenian national hero , Andranik Ozanian participated in the Balkan Wars in the Bulgarian army , alongside general Garegin Nzhdeh ( another national hero ) as a commander of Armenian auxiliary troops . Bulgarian authorities honored Andranik and Nzhdeh with the Order of Bravery . After the events surrounding the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire ( 1915 – 1917 ) 22,000 additional Armenians sought refuge in Bulgaria during the government of Aleksandar Stamboliyski in 1922 . During the Communist rule of Bulgaria ( 1945 – 1989 ) and the time of the Soviet Union , most of the Armenians returned to their homeland , then the Armenian SSR , but many chose to stay in Bulgaria or emigrate to other countries such as the United States . In the 1990s , after the dissolution of the USSR , the poor economic conditions in Armenia and the military conflicts in the Caucasus caused a number of Armenians to seek a better future in Bulgaria as emigrants or travel through Bulgaria to western Europe or the United States . Since the 1990s the population of Armenians in Bulgaria has continually decreased due to immigration and assimilation
Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
Armenians in Bulgaria