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.