With the arrival of the British in July 1878 and their progressive administration, the already small Armenian community of the island was particularly strengthened. Known for their linguistic skills, several Armenians were contracted to Cyprus to work as interpreters and public servants at the consulates and the British administration, such as Apisoghom Utidjian. The number of Armenians in Cyprus significantly increased following the massive deportations, the massacres and the genocide perpetrated by the Ottomans and the Young Turks. Cyprus welcomed over 10,000 refugees from Cilicia, Smyrna and Constantinople, who arrived in Larnaca and all its other harbours, about 1,500 of them made the island their new home. Industrious, cultivated and progressive, they brought new life into the old community and establish themselves as people of the arts, letters and sciences, entrepreneurs and merchants, craftsmen and photographers, as well as professionals who introduced new crafts, dishes and sweets to the island, thus contributing to Cyprus' socioeconomic and cultural development. The newcomers established associations, choirs, sports groups, Scout groups, bands, churches, schools and cemeteries throughout Cyprus. Armenians were the first locksmiths, mechanics, seat, comb and stamp makers, upholsterers, watchmakers and zincographers in Cyprus. They were the first to introduce the cinema, they significantly improved the craft of shoemaking and it was Armenians who first introduced Armenian bastourma, baklava, dried apricots, gassosa, gyros, halva, ice cubes, koubes, lahmadjoun, lokmadhes and pompes into the Cypriot cuisine. Armenians also introduced two techniques of embroidery needlework: the Aintab work and the Marash work.