Vahan Babakhanyan
Deputy chairman of the Regional Armenian national-cultural autonomy of Saint Petersburg on information issues
Chairman of the standing committee on the recognition, condemnation of the Armenian Genocide and reimbursement for damages of the National Assembly (Parliament) of the Republic of Western Armenia
Chairman of the NGO of sociological and political science initiatives “Crossroad”
Theses of the report at the Second International scientific and practical conference «Russia-Syria. Humanitarian dialogue in the name of preserving traditional values in the modern world», St. Petersburg, November 19, 2018
Armeniancy supports Russian policy in Syria and in the Greater Middle East
(translation from Russian, most of the sources are in Russian)
In Russian — https://miaban.ru/info/syria/19-11-2018/
The Armenian people, who became a Diaspora nation (80% live outside their Homeland), supports Syria, its authorities, Russia’s efforts against international terrorism and the banned ISIL and other terrorist organizations, supports peacemaking efforts and Russia’s policy in the Greater Middle East (GME). The Armeniancy of the world consists of four components: the Republic of (Eastern) Armenia, the Republic of Artsakh, the Diaspora, the Republic of Western Armenia [1]. The report examines the attitudes of all the components of the four-part Armeniancy to the GME, and in particular to Syria.
The Armenians of Syria themselves are not just on the side of the authorities — they, fighting shoulder to shoulder with the Syrians, at the cost of their lives defend peace on this land. The Armenians of Syria were the first to take the strike of terrorists in Kessab, which was the day after the unanimous vote in the State Duma of the Russian Federation on March 20, 2014 on the Federal Constitutional Law on the Admission of Crimea to Russia [2]. A few hours after this act, thousands of armed militants from the “Front al-Nusra” and “Islamic Front” crossed the Turkish border into Syria, and the perfidious military aggression began in the early morning of March 21 [3]. Unfortunately, political scientists and the media write little about this “coincidence”, although the speed of mobilization of thousands of armed militants and the organized unimpeded passage through the Turkish border to Syria are clear evidence that Turkey can stab in the back at any time. Also it is not written about many other facts.
In particular, remains uncovered in the media about hybrid forms of international terrorism, about the participation of foreign terrorists in destabilization and war crimes in the Transcaucasus, about the long-term pro-terrorist policy of certain countries, which are being supplied for years by weapons of mass destruction in the billions of dollars.
It is worth noting that the Republic of Armenia, in contrast to the members of the anti-Russian GUAM block, as well as to many allies of Russia, always supports Russia on the issue of Crimea in the UN and other international venues [4].
The Republic of Armenia has a significant multi-year practical support, including reception of refugees, humanitarian aid [5]. Armenia is the only (in addition to Russia) CSTO country that sends military and specialists to Syria [6]. In July 2018, another state program was adopted for refugees from Syria, calculated until 2021. [7]
The Armenian Apostolic Church plays a huge role.
The Republic of Artsakh has accepted many refugee families — they have adapted, run their businesses.
Assistance from the worldwide Armenian Diaspora was from the very beginning of the aggravation in Syria. For example, in early 2016, one Foundation raised $1.2 million to help Syrians [8].
The Armenian community of Saint Petersburg has participated in rallies and pickets in support of Syria since 2014. A round table on Kessab was organized in the community with the participation of Russian social activists and activists of the Syrian community. There are warm and friendly relations between the Armenian and Syrian communities of Saint Petersburg.
Speaking about the accumulated experience, it should be recognized that in order to intensify and deepen support and development of the humanitarian dialogue on the preservation of traditional values, it is necessary to raise the level of practical involvement of the three million Armenians in Russia, in whole Eurasia in the Russian-Syrian programs.
The Republic of Western Armenia is also playing an increasingly important role. Being represented by its citizens in 47 countries of the world, including the USA and Europe, it conducts appropriate propaganda in the media, the Internet, through other resources and at different sites. The problem in the region of GME is an echo of the unsolved Armenian Question. This was once again stated in an interview with the chairman of the Parliament of Western Armenia [9]. It should be noted that, according to the most common estimates of specialists, about 5 million hidden or crypto-Armenians live in the territory of Western Armenia — Turkish citizens, mostly Islamized, who for a century had to hide their Armenian origin [10]. However, for many years there has been a progressive process of gradually returning to their roots, to their identity, to the Christian faith.
Having survived from the crucifixion on Calvary of Genocide from Turkey, having found salvation also in hospitable Syria, all Armenian people, all four-component Armeniancy is on the side of peace, peaceful resolution of conflicts, on the side of traditional spiritual values and will always be in the forefront in protecting civilization from the challenges of dark forces of anti-civilization.
[1] Т. Арутюнян. Отсутствующий четвертый компонент в триединстве Армения – Арцах–Диаспора http://theanalyticon.com/?p=10497&lang=ru
[2] Федеральный конституционный Закон №6 «О принятии в Российскую Федерацию Республики Крым и образовании в составе Российской Федерации новых субъектов Республики Крым и города федерального значения Севастополя» https://rg.ru/2014/03/22/krym-dok.html
[3] Article in Wikipedia “Kessab” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kessab
[4] О голосовании в Генеральной ассамблее ООН:
19 декабря 2017 г. https://regnum.ru/news/2359570.html
30 марта 2014 г. https://golosislama.com/news.php?id=22846
[5] Из Армении в Сирию самолетами МЧС России отправлено 94 тонны гуманитарной помощи, 12 июля 2018 г.
[6] Заявление министра обороны Армении Давида Тонояна 11 сентября 2018 г. о посылке ста врачей и гуманитарных саперов вместе с персоналом по обеспечению безопасности
[7] Новая программа для беженцев из Сирии, 8 июля 2018 г. http://golosarmenii.am/article/68976/v-armenii-startovala-novaya-programma-dlya-sirijskix-armyan
[8] Фонд SARF собрал для сирийских армян 1,2 млн долларов, 22 февраля 2016 г.
https://armenpress.am/rus/news/836760/fond-sarf-sobral-dlya-siriiyskikh-armyan-12-mln-dollarov.html
[9] Interview with the chairman of the Parliament of Western Armenia Armen Ter-Sarkisyan, October 25, 2018. https://miaban.ru/info/wa/ter-sarkisyan_2/
[10] Article in Wikipedia “Hidden Armenians” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hidden_Armenians
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