WORLD COMMITEE OF ARMENIAN SUPPORTERS OF LEBANESE RESISTANCE CALL ON TO RAISE VOICE OF PROTEST AGAINST WAR IN LEBANON
Noyan Tapan
Aug 15 2006
YEREVAN, AUGUST 15, NOYAN TAPAN. The members of the World Committee
of Armenian Supporters of Lebanese Resistance are appealing to all
the Armenians not to consider the ongoing actions in Lebanon as one
religious community’s struggle for existence and to raise their voices
against the war in Lebanon.
According to a press release issued by this organization, the
war was instigated by Israel and the US with the aim of "stifling
Hezbollah, Hamas, Syria and Iran and create a new Middle East under
their control." Vahagn Vardanian, representative of the committee,
expressed an opinion during a press conference on August 15 that if
the Lebanese resistance (in the person of Hezbollah) is broken, the
war will take the character of a regional war, with other states,
particularly Iran, being involved in this conflict. In his words,
this circumstance poses a threat to Armenia, "in particular, to the
liberated regions of Artsakh where an attempt is already being made
to deploy foreign troops in order to use them against Iran in the
future." He compared the Armenian-Azerbaijani and the Lebanese-Israeli
conflicts, noting that if Israel were replaced with Azerbaijan, Lebanon
– with Armenia, South Lebanon – with Karabakh and Hezbollah – with
fidayi, we would have the initial stage of the Armenian-Azerbaijani
conflict." Political scientist Igor Muradian (he is not a member of
the committee) said during the press conference that this war is going
on by the silent consent of the Arab world. "Israel’s aim is to disarm
Hezbullah, which is qualified as a terrorist organization by Israel and
its allies. Yet, this organization was established in order to liberate
the Lebanese territories captured by the Israeli army," he said. It
was mentioned that 80% of bridges and roads linking Lebanon’s five
provinces have been destroyed, the country’s ports are not functioning,
and more than 80 Lebanese Armenians have fled to Armenia.