On the occasion of Christmas among the Armenian Sects, Dean of the Maronite General Council, former Minister Wadih El-Khazen, congratulated “this honorable sect that has enriched our homeland with its contributions and its culture rooted in our Levantine heritage, and which, by integrating into the pluralistic Lebanese formula, constituted a milestone in the fulfillment of the concept of the state that has embraced, since its establishment, oppressed segments who have resorted to Lebanon to exercise their free role and to highlight their professional, artistic and political talents and capabilities in the field of the brilliant Lebanese presence in the world.”

He added that “the importance of this honorable sect is reflected in its most exemplary features in the historical ordeal that it experienced during the First World War, which claimed more than a million martyrs in escaping the Ottoman oppression…a bitter experience very similar to that of Lebanon, under the horrors of Ottoman oppression, and the fallen martyrs it sacrificed for the sake of freedom in downtown Beirut, as the souls of these people mingled to embody the legend of liberty and Lebanon’s eternal message to the world.”

“On this occasion, we, who have been afflicted by the fire of torment throughout history and still are, cannot help but salute the souls of the martyrs on this Christmas anniversary, hoping that our homeland will enjoy the peace it has sought from the beginning of its history ,” El-Khazen concluded.

Source: National News Agency – Lebanon