Armenians gather to discuss past and present

Tuesday, September 13, 2005
The Daily Star
By Jessy Chahine

BEIRUT: In a three-day conference entitled "The Armenians of Lebanon: Their Past and Present," a number of experts from various countries gathered yesterday at Haigazian University to discuss aspects of the current status of an influential yet minority group in the country.

Starting on Monday, 16 papers will be presented by scholars coming from Canada, the U.S., France, Argentina, Egypt, Syria, Armenia, Germany, Italy and of course, Lebanon in the presence of a number of invitees from the academic community in Lebanon, both Armenian and non-Armenian.
[...]
Among the topics that will be covered during the conferences will be the political, socio-economic history of the community within both the Lebanese and pan-Armenian contexts, the aspects of the influx and exodus of Armenians to and from Lebanon, the Armenian identity, literature, music, and contemporary concerns of the community.
[...]
"For the Armenian Diaspora, Lebanon represents a land of reference and history, a land of cultural heritage. Every summer, groups of young Armenians coming back from around the world gather in Lebanon to delve back into their culture, to learn and practice their ancestral language and visit the country," Boudjikanian {A doctor in Human Geography, Aida Boudjikanian} said. The last statistics in Lebanon date back to 1975 and place the community at 186,000 Armenians in Lebanon, according to Boudjikanian, who gathered the data.

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.