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'We feel welcome in Arab countries'
By Abbas Al Lawati, Staff Reporter
Published: December 13, 2007, 23:18
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.
http://archive.gulfnews.com/nation/Society/1017456 5.html
By Abbas Al Lawati, Staff Reporter
Published: December 13, 2007, 23:18
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.
http://archive.gulfnews.com/nation/Society/1017456 5.html