ROUNDTABLE ON "ARMENIAN PEACEKEEPERS IN LEBANON: PROS AND CONS" HELD IN YEREVAN
ArmRadio.am
09.09.2006 11:49
The Armenian Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS)
convened a foreign policy roundtable entitled "Armenian Peacekeepers
in Lebanon: Pros and Cons" to discuss the viability, against the
backdrop of new geopolitical realities, of deploying an Armenian
peacekeeping contingent in Lebanon.
ACNIS director of research Stiopa Safarian greeted the audience
with opening remarks and deliberated on Armenia’s potential role in
the shaping of the Greater Middle East. "What occurs in the Middle
East today has certainly passed well beyond the perimeters of the
Arab-Israeli conflict, and involves new realities that are forming
in the region. The foreign policy of Armenia cannot treat the current
happenings with indifference. In the interests of European civilization
and security, in the spirit of peace, and as a sign of traditional
warm relations with the Arab world, this policy should play a unique
role in the strengthening of regional peace. Hence, a peacekeeping
mission to southern Lebanon, where thousands of Armenians live,
provides one such opportunity, " Safarian mentioned.
In his address, Armenia’s former Minister of Defense Lieutenant General
Vagharshak Harutiunian reflected on the military aspect in the possible
dispatch of Armenian peacekeepers to Lebanon. The general likewise is
confident that " Armenia must absolutely partake in the peace force,
but it has to determine the correct means of participation. This is
our duty since we have historically-profound and strong relations
with, and a huge Armenian community in, Lebanon." Harutiunian also
noted that the presence of Armenian peacekeepers in that country is
in Israel’s interests as well because this would prevent the Israeli
towns from becoming targets of missile attacks from that area. In
General Harutiunian’s view, this mission is beneficial for the two
countries, for Hezbollah, and for the Armenian community of Lebanon.