14.9.12

Armenia, a "Muslim" Country

Vartan Matiossian
 
On September 12, 2012, the U.S. Embassy in Armenia posted a message titled "Recent Events in Libya and Egypt" which started in the following way:
"In light of recent events at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and U.S. Consulate in Libya, the U.S. Department of State reminds U.S. citizens to remain vigilant. On September 11th, protesters converged and infiltrated the perimeter of the compounds at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
Given the uncertainty and volatility of the current situation, all U.S. citizens in Armenia are cautioned to maintain good situational awareness and should stay current with media coverage of local events. The U.S. Embassy in Yerevan has no specific information to indicate that these events will affect security in Yerevan; however, all U.S. citizens should remain particularly vigilant in the near term to their personal safety, and report any suspicious circumstances to the local authorities."
A dispatch of AP, while noting that those attacks "appear to have been responses to an inflammatory anti-Muslim video on the Internet," reported that "the embassies in Armenia, Burundi, Kuwait, Sudan, Tunisia and Zambia, along with the embassy in Egypt, which was hit by a protest on Tuesday, all issued warnings on Wednesday advising Americans to be particularly vigilant" (The Wall Street Journal, September 12, 2012).
Some facts:
-- The only country that is non-Muslim in that list is... Armenia. 
-- There are two Muslim countries with American embassies on the west and east of Armenia, but not on the list. 
-- There is a third Muslim country on the south of Armenia... without an American embassy.
A reminder:
-- On December 16, 2002, Armenia was designated, together with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, in the third group of countries whose citizens would be subject to "special registration" by the Department of Justice. As it may be recalled, it was dropped the next day without comment.
A question:
-- Is the U.S. Ambassador in Armenia unaware of the religion practiced by at least 98.4% (source: Wikipedia) of the population?
It sounds funny, but in a post-9/11 world, it is not.


2 comments:

  1. Well, Armenia is NOT a muslim country, but is NOT also a NATO partner, so is a supicious country...

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    Replies
    1. Before making groundless statements ("is not also a NATO partner"), please check your facts. Here's the first paragraph of a news report coming straight from the official NATO website. Please take note of the use of the word "partner":

      "10 Sep. 2012
      NATO’s partners in the South Caucasus

      Last week, NATO’s Secretary General visited the South Caucasus – a region that is strategically important to the Alliance. NATO has been progressively deepening dialogue and cooperation with Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia since the early 1990s. All three partners provide valuable support to NATO-led operations, while benefiting from NATO support for security and defence-related capacity building and reform."

      See the entire story in http://www.nato.int/cps/en/SID-9CCD8989-19B5F8F0/natolive/news_89866.htm

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