Tweet
ARMENIAN EXPERTS WARN AGAINST SENDING TROOPS TO SYRIA'S KESSAB
12:30 * 26.03.14
Amid the continuing armed conflict in Syria's Armenian-populated
region of Kessab, opinions are divided in the Armenian circles over
sending troops to the country to assist in the government forces'
liberation fight.
Many think Armenians should join the military operations as did many
compatriots from the Diaspora in the 1990s when they came to Armenia
to participate in the Nagorno-Karabakh liberation war.
Speaking to Tert.am, the political analyst Levon Melik-Shahnazaryan
said he doesn't think such an approach is right given that Syria's
government forces do not have many Armenian servicemen whom the
peacekeepers from Armenia could join.
"There is no such subdivision whom the Armenians leaving from here
could join to participate [in the military operations]. Secondly,
that's an absolutely unknown territory, with no local Armenian
self-government to offer any support. Those people will just become
a cannon fodder. It think it is very important today to organize
those people's transportation to Armenia with the help of the Syrian
Government and international organizations," he said.
The town of Kessab and its neighboring Armenian villages have been
under militant attacks since Friday morning. The region's entire
Armenian population was evacuated to Latakia on Tuesday.
Commenting on the Armenian parliamentary delegation's Tuesday departure
for Syria, the expert said he expects a positive outcome from the
meeting with the local Armenians. Mr Melik Shahnazaryan said he thinks
it is strongly necessary to persuade the community to temporary reside
in Armenia or Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh).
"ôhis situation in Syria is going to last long; there's no bottom to
it. So it isn't right to stay there in vain and suffer losses. Both
of our Armenian states must do everything possible to help the people.
Our primary task is to save them," he noted.
Saro Saroyan, an expert from the Armenian Center for National and
International Studies, hailed the idea of sending Armenian troops
to Syria but said he doesn't find the plan realistic or absolutely
necessary.
"The Armenians have been already evacuated and settled in a secure
area, but if there are such civic initiatives, they could have realized
the plan to involve people [in the struggle]. And the Armenians too,
would have been quite happy to see that there are forces ready
to protect the nation's physical existence in any corner of the
world. But it is one thing to say and quite a different thing to
ensure volunteers' presence, which I don't see today," he noted.
Saroyan said such a plan, if realized, would establish a new precedent
after the Artsakh war that saw many Diaspora Armenians join the
liberation struggle to protect their homeland.
But he added that it is first of all necessary to have corresponding
groups in both Armenia and Artsakh and the Diaspora. "Should anyone be
the first to make such a step - by forming a detachment of 20 people -
that will testify to significant changes among the Armenian circles.
But the problem here does not have to do only with the enlistment;
there are lots of other difficulties - financial, military, state etc,"
Saroyan added.
http://www.tert.am/en/news/2014/03/26/qesap/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
12:30 * 26.03.14
Amid the continuing armed conflict in Syria's Armenian-populated
region of Kessab, opinions are divided in the Armenian circles over
sending troops to the country to assist in the government forces'
liberation fight.
Many think Armenians should join the military operations as did many
compatriots from the Diaspora in the 1990s when they came to Armenia
to participate in the Nagorno-Karabakh liberation war.
Speaking to Tert.am, the political analyst Levon Melik-Shahnazaryan
said he doesn't think such an approach is right given that Syria's
government forces do not have many Armenian servicemen whom the
peacekeepers from Armenia could join.
"There is no such subdivision whom the Armenians leaving from here
could join to participate [in the military operations]. Secondly,
that's an absolutely unknown territory, with no local Armenian
self-government to offer any support. Those people will just become
a cannon fodder. It think it is very important today to organize
those people's transportation to Armenia with the help of the Syrian
Government and international organizations," he said.
The town of Kessab and its neighboring Armenian villages have been
under militant attacks since Friday morning. The region's entire
Armenian population was evacuated to Latakia on Tuesday.
Commenting on the Armenian parliamentary delegation's Tuesday departure
for Syria, the expert said he expects a positive outcome from the
meeting with the local Armenians. Mr Melik Shahnazaryan said he thinks
it is strongly necessary to persuade the community to temporary reside
in Armenia or Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh).
"ôhis situation in Syria is going to last long; there's no bottom to
it. So it isn't right to stay there in vain and suffer losses. Both
of our Armenian states must do everything possible to help the people.
Our primary task is to save them," he noted.
Saro Saroyan, an expert from the Armenian Center for National and
International Studies, hailed the idea of sending Armenian troops
to Syria but said he doesn't find the plan realistic or absolutely
necessary.
"The Armenians have been already evacuated and settled in a secure
area, but if there are such civic initiatives, they could have realized
the plan to involve people [in the struggle]. And the Armenians too,
would have been quite happy to see that there are forces ready
to protect the nation's physical existence in any corner of the
world. But it is one thing to say and quite a different thing to
ensure volunteers' presence, which I don't see today," he noted.
Saroyan said such a plan, if realized, would establish a new precedent
after the Artsakh war that saw many Diaspora Armenians join the
liberation struggle to protect their homeland.
But he added that it is first of all necessary to have corresponding
groups in both Armenia and Artsakh and the Diaspora. "Should anyone be
the first to make such a step - by forming a detachment of 20 people -
that will testify to significant changes among the Armenian circles.
But the problem here does not have to do only with the enlistment;
there are lots of other difficulties - financial, military, state etc,"
Saroyan added.
http://www.tert.am/en/news/2014/03/26/qesap/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress