Lebanese paper on Armenians of Anjar
tert.am
12:34 – 05.05.12
Below is an excerpt from the Lebanon based Alakhbar newspaper’s
article devoted to the Armenians of Anjar.
The Bourj Hammoud district of Greater Beirut is the capital home to
Lebanon’s Armenians, however their presence extends well beyond the
city. Al-Akhbar looks at the different areas in Lebanon where Armenian
communities settled as they fled from Turkish persecution a century
ago.
Anjar has been the mystery of the Bekaa Valley since 1939, the year
Armenians arrived there. The rest of the valley has not been able to
solve this mystery whose legend was built by poor men and women forced
out of the Iskenderun. Armenians have since passed this town down from
father to son.
`The Republic of Anjar,’ which enjoys boundless autonomy under the
banner of one-party rule [The Armenian Revolutionary Federation or
Tashnag] overcame the surprised and disapproving looks from residents
in nearby areas from the moment the first Armenian stepped foot here.
The poor and forcibly displaced refugees succeeded in taming the
fields drowning in polluted water and were able to quickly build their
own city. The cornerstone was laid down by France, Lebanon’s
`compassionate mother,’ when it bought, through cajoling and
intimidation, about 1540 hectares of Anjar’s agricultural land.
In a short time, the Armenians of Anjar were able to transform the
land that had been `discarded’ into a commercial, agricultural, and
industrial destination.
Mayor Sarkis Pamboukian says Anjar is 100 percent Armenian and adds
laughing, it is `24-karat Armenian gold.’
>From a Refugee Camp to a City
Anjar began as an Armenian camp established in mid 1939 over
swampland. It ended up a city with 1062 houses and 1250 families by
mid 1941. It has 7,000 registered citizens today. About 3,000 reside
in Anjar on a permanent basis while the number goes up to 4,000 in the
summer.
Pamboukian explains that Armenian migration from Anjar happened over
two stages. The first was in 1946 when a limited number – about 400
families – left to Soviet Armenia for good. `But the larger migration
happened at the beginning of the Lebanese war in 1975,’ Pamboukian
says, pointing out that Armenians who leave Anjar today come back to
`visit all the time,’ emphasizing that good relations with neighboring
areas has brought about social stability.
`That is why we don’t feel anything here threatening our existence. On
the contrary, over the course of seven decades, we have become an
essential part of the fabric of this area,’ Pamboukian says adding,
`An Armenian Anjar is a source of strength for the Bekaa. We don’t
feel we’re strangers or that we don’t belong on this land.’
A Headquarters of the Syrian Security Leadership
The Syrian presence in Lebanon played a role in establishing and
protecting social stability for the Armenians of Anjar. From 1982
until 2005, the city became a major base for the Syrian security,
military, and intelligence leadership.
An Armenian man active in politics and not a Tashnag member confirms
that `the Syrian presence helped protect us from repercussions of the
Lebanese Civil War.’ He says, `We did not ever feel that we are left
to an uncertain future here even though we had major political
differences with our neighbors.’
He points to the legal dispute between Dar al-Fatwa (the country’s top
Sunni institution) and the Armenians of Anjar over the ownership of
agricultural lands on the outskirts of the town. He says this dispute
`took on a sectarian character earlier but cooperation between the two
sides prevented a fifth column from interfering in this dispute and
today it is being addressed within a legal framework.’
He stresses that the relationship between the Armenians of his city
and the people of Majdal Anjar, a neighboring town, is `very good even
though there are political differences between them.’
In 2005, political differences emerged between Anjar and neighboring
towns as the city was thought to be part of the March 8 alliance,
turning it into a politically isolated island within a popular sea
that supports March 14.Member of the Tashnag party committee in Anjar,
Harutyun Atanas Lakasian, says that their relationship with the town
of Majdal Anjar and the rest of the area is `very good. We respect
each other and we exchange visits,’ he says, pointing out that the
Tashnag party `works to keep the relationship with neighboring areas
good.’
He believes that the formerly cold relationship between Anjar and
neighboring towns was `a normal outcome of the political differences
that exist among them, specifically after 2005.’
He explains that the Tashnag’s decision to join an electoral alliance
against the Future Movement led to `cold relations with our neighbors
but we were able to change this cold relationship to a close one.’
Lakasian stresses that the Tashnag party in Anjar `does not
discriminate between the various political parties in the area even
though there are political differences at times.’
There Might Be Some Hardships
In 2005, political differences emerged between Anjar and neighboring
towns as the city was thought to be part of the March 8 alliance,
turning it into a politically isolated island within a popular sea
that supports March 14. Anjar paid a price for this isolation and
accusation until it managed to overcome this `adversity.’
Pamboukian says the alliance between the Tashnag and March 8 `did not
prevent Anjar from building solid ties with neighboring areas whose
residents support March 14.’ He explains: `We are neither allies nor
enemies with anyone. There are political interests and we don’t deny
that relationships were strained.’
Pamboukian says that his city has suffered from economic stagnation
during the past period because `the neighboring areas boycotted us as
a result of edicts by clergymen.’ But he affirmed that the
relationship today is `very good and we are witnessing economic,
commercial, and touristic growth.’