Expert: Armenian leadership`s silence on Lebanon is surprising

ArmInfo.The Armenian leadership's silence on the situation in Lebanon is surprising. This statement was made by Semyon Baghdasarov, the Director of the Center for the Study of the Middle East and Central Asia.  In this vein, he posed the question to himself: Turkey and Azerbaijan are insisting that the Armenian leadership abandon the Armenian Diaspora.

"The country is home to the eighth largest Armenian community in the world, do they not require assistance? Could the Armenian leadership not propose to provide temporarily shelter, at the very least, for the children who are under fire? The greatest shame for the Armenian people would be to abandon the descendants of those who escaped the Genocide, the descendants of those who sought refuge in Lebanon, to their fate," Baghdasarov noted.  At the same time, he believes that the Armenian leadership, headed by the "great cyclist", who rides under close supervision by numerous guards, should definitely pay attention to the troubles and hardships of their people.

"The residents of Bourj Hammoud, the Armenian suburb of Beirut, are facing a challenging situation. If a war starts, it would escalate into a catastrophe," stated the Middle East expert.  It should be noted that the Armenian authorities have not reacted in any way since the escalation of the situation around Lebanon, amidst the bombing of Israel. This is despite the fact that the Lebanese leadership has always demonstrated a pro-Armenian position in situations where Armenia and the Armenian people found themselves in difficult or hopeless situations. Throughout this time, official Yerevan only vaguely condemned the attack on the UN mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on Twitter, without even specifying the country responsible for the attack. It's worth noting that Armenian peacekeepers serve in Lebanon as part of UNIFIL.

According to open sources, Armenians are the second largest ethnic group in Lebanon. Due to the prolonged civil war in Lebanon (1975-1990) and the subsequent lack of security and protracted economic crises, approximately 100,000-120,000 Armenians currently live in Lebanon.