BEIRUT: Lebanese-Armenians celebrated Christmas Saturday as politicians sent warm wishes to the estimated 200,000 observing the holiday.

“Merry Christmas to the Armenian and Coptic communities,” President Michel Aoun tweeted Saturday. “On this blessed night, we hope that the peace of the Nativity of Bethlehem will shine on our entire East and stop its bleeding.”

Prime Minister Saad Hariri tweeted: “Best wishes to the Armenian and Coptic communities on Christmas. May God restore upon Lebanon and the Arab world security and peace."

Minister Inaya Ezzeddine also wished the community a Merry Christmas, saying she hoped that it would mark the beginning of a return to peace.

“May God restore upon Lebanon and the entire world security, safety, stability and peace,” she wrote, in a tweet that included an image of a Paul Guiragossian painting, “Madonna and Child.”

Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, whose Free Patriotic Movement is heavily aligned with the Armenian Tashnag Party, tweeted in both Armenian and Arabic.

“No matter how diverse our cultures are, the homeland is one. No matter how different the calendar is, Christ is one. To our Lebanese citizens of Armenian origin: Merry Christmas and [warm wishes].”

As followers of the Orthodox Church Saturday engaged in Christmas celebrations, other Christian communities in Lebanon also celebrated the Epiphany.