Armenian peacekeeping units left for Lebanon on the evening of November 26. They will be participating in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) mission. The Armenian peacekeeping platoon will serve under the Italian UNIFIL contingent in southern Lebanon.
Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan and Italy’s Ambassador to Armenia Giovanni Ricciulli participated in the official seeing off ceremony at Zvartnots International Airport.
CivilNet spoke with Shahan Kandaharian, the Editor-in-Chief of the Armenian daily newspaper Aztag in Beirut about how the presence of Armenian peacekeepers is perceived by the Armenian community in Lebanon. “The participation of Armenian soldiers with the peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon must be viewed within the context of the Republic of Armenia’s active participation in different international peacekeeping missions,” Kandaharian said and added that the Armenian community in Lebanon views the arrival of their compatriots in the country very positively.
Armenia currently participates in several peacekeeping missions. It has deployed soldiers in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), where they serve under German command. It also has soldiers serving in the Kosovo Force in Kosovo, serving within the Greek Army battalion.
