Al-Rahi from Armenia: Lebanese United despite Political Rift
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi stressed on Wednesday that the Lebanese rivals are united concerning the necessity to safeguard the country's coexistence and diversity, considering that the Christian martyrs increased the power of the Church and helped in spreading the religion.
“Lebanon is passing through a delicate situation... and despite the rift, the Lebanese are united regarding the importance of protecting coexistence, diversity and the country's openness,” al-Rahi said from Armenia, where he traveled to attend the centenary commemoration of the Armenian genocide.
He considered that the “world admires Lebanon and its people.”
“Lebanon is a wonderful and integrated mosaic that no component in it could be sacrificed... which constituted its value,” al-Rahi said.
He called on politicians to bridge the gap and defuse tension and disputes.
“Muslims and Christians should rebuild a civil and democratic state based on equality, respect of human rights and freedom,” al-Rahi said.
The patriarch is expected to head to France after his four-day visit to Armenia. In Paris, al-Rahi will inaugurate Europe's Maronite Diocese in the town of Meudon in the French capital's suburbs.
He will reportedly meet with French President Francois Hollande with the presidential stalemate topping the agenda of the talks.
Vacuum striking the presidential post since May is having a tough impact on the cabinet and the parliament as the state is threatened with further crises over ongoing rows between the rival parties.
Al-Rahi hailed from Armenia the “faithfulness of Armenians to Lebanon.”
“Taking part in a mass to a commemorate the Armenian genocide is an important event for us in the Middle East,” he said.
Armenians in Armenia and the diaspora, including Lebanon, will on April 24 mark the 100th anniversary of the start of a campaign of genocide by Ottoman forces in World War I to wipe them out of Anatolia.
Turkey on Monday sought to reach out to Armenians, saying it shared their pain and wanted to heal the wounds of the past.
In his conciliatory message, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu stopped well short of recognizing the killings as a genocide -- as Armenians want -- but explicitly referred to deadly deportations of "Ottoman Armenians.”
Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, an event widely viewed by scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century. Turkey however, denies that the deaths constituted genocide, saying the toll has been inflated, and that those killed were victims of civil war and unrest.
H.K.
M.T.
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