‘WE FEEL WELCOME IN ARAB COUNTRIES’
By Abbas Al Lawati, Staff Reporter
Gulf News
Dec 14 2007
United Arab Emirates
Dubai: Hrach Kalsahakian says he is a typical diaspora Armenian. He
was born in Greece to Syrian parents and has lived in Lebanon, Kuwait,
Syria, Greece and the UAE.
"I am an Armenian from Syria, but like many other Armenians, I have
carried something with me from all the places I’ve lived in."
Armenians in Arab countries like Syria, he says, have not had
conflicting identities. Their identities as Syrian citizens with an
Armenian background are at harmony, for which he credits the local
Arabs that welcomed Armenians when they migrated to the region as
refugees after the First World War.
Coexistence
Kalsahakian attributes this to the fact that Armenians had no land
claims there "unlike other [religious or ethnic] minorities that came
to the region."
The positive treatment of Armenians, he says, serves as an opportunity
for Arabs to show a different side to themselves at a time when
negative stereotypes about them are rife.
"Although Armenians had all the elements of being strangers,
they were not treated so. It was more than just tolerance. It was
coexistence. This should be a source of pride for Arabs" he said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
