Turkey’s TurKcell, The Hariri Family and The Armenian Lebanese Community

Turkeys TurKcell, The Hariri Family and The Armenian Lebanese Community

By Appo Jabarian

Executive Publisher / Managing Editor
USA Armenian Life Magazine


Friday, June 26, 2009


Lebanon is not a vast country. It does not have a mighty army. Its air force has modest capabilities. Its soldiers are still not capable to liberate the Sha'aba farms forcibly occupied by Turkey's ally Israel.

But Lebanon is an integral part of the world commerce and politics thanks to its strategically important position on the eastern Mediterranean basin.

It is a small country that has given so much to the world civilization. It is believed that the scriptures were written on papyrus from Lebanons ancient Phoenician seaport city Byblos (todays Jubeil), hence the word Bible came to be. It is also credited for having introduced the color magenta (al-urjuan al-ahmar).

Lebanon's importance is further enhanced by several other factors, including centuries-old Armenian ties and presence.

The relations between Lebanon and the Armenians go back several centuries. Under King Tigran II, Lebanon/Phoenicia, was a part of the Armenian Empire 95-55 B.C. Even though the empire receded, the tiny Armenian presence continued to exist.

During the Ottoman years, in order to bring an end to the decades-old inter-ethnic violence between the Maronites and the Druze, Lebanon was placed under the administration of the "Mutasarrifieh" system (special government status) from 1864-1918. With the consent of various Lebanese leaders, it was served by succeeding neutral governors of which the first, Dawud Pasha Al-Ermeni (David Pasha The Armenian), and the last, Ohannes Pasha Kouyoumjian, were Armenians.

During the Armenian Genocide at the hands of Turkey (1915-1923), waves of orphaned and uprooted Armenians arrived in various hospitable Arab countries and Lebanon. During the 1930's introduction of the Lebanese nationality identification system, the Armenian-Lebanese were officially recognized as an integral part of Lebanon. They were granted Lebanese nationality.

According to the 1943 intra-Lebanese National Pact (al-mysaqh alwatani), the Armenian Lebanese were officially recognized as one of the key ethnic groups that was granted its proportional share of seats in the Parliament of Lebanon.

According to the Pact, during many decades before 2000, every four years the Armenian Lebanese along with the rest of other ethnic denominations directly elected its representatives thanks to fair districting and understanding with other communities not to interfere in or influence the process of intra-Armenian Lebanese democratic process. At that time the districting system accurately reflected the prevailing demographics.

However, during the 1975-89s civil war, both a population shift and migration occurred. Several families relocated in Metns Antelias, Zalka, Beit Koko, Rabieh, Bikfaya, Muzher and many nearby localities. As a direct result, the districts of Beirut I, II and III no longer reflect accurate demographics.

With the ending of the civil war in the 1980s, several new political forces entered Lebanons political arena. One of the new forces was the late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Mr. Hariri had just returned from Saudi Arabia with an impressive financial accomplishment under his belt. Through his very controversial yet attractive Solidere project, he eventually gained political clout that helped him secure the post of the Prime Minister.

According to several reliable sources, soon after he became PM, Mr. Hariri accelerated his relations with Turkey on both economic and political levels.

On May 2008, The (Gulf) Khaleej Times reported that in 2005, Oger Telecom (Rafik Hariris Saudi Arabia-based company) bought a 55 per cent controlling stake in Turk Telecom, beating out consortia that included Carlyle KOC and Etisalat Dubai Islamic Bank. Yet Saudi Oger valuation in 2005 was $12 billion, meaning that the Turkish government is taking no premium for its stake in the current IPO even though the company has paid dividends, shed a third of its payrolls, added millions of new subs, entered the GSM/data traffic businesses and totally restructured its IT, billing, network architecture and marketing divisions. A useful comparative data point in this context is that Turkcell has soared 120 per cent since Saudi Oger bought its stake in Turk Telecom three years ago.

One wonders, what did Sr. Hariri promise to the anti-Armenian Ankara leaders in order to receive such Turkish co-operation facilitating his acquisition of the Turkish fat cash cow called Turkcell?

Ironically, parallel to developing the 2000 anti-Armenian parliamentary election laws in Lebanon, Hariri was laying the foundations for a silky takeover of Turkcell. And the laws of the year 2000 paved the way for his 2005 massive hijacking of the majority of the Armenian seats in the Lebanese Parliament.

The result was disastrous both for Lebanon and the Armenian Lebanese.

One also wonders, did Mr. Hariri, independently of any Turkish influence, chose to amass gigantic political power, and in the process, overstepped his boundaries? In this regard, one factor is certain that he attempted to subordinate the most popular Armenian Lebanese Tashnag party to him offering in exchange, the preservation of the traditional Armenian Lebanese Parliamentary Bloc.

Remaining truthful to its role as an independent force in the Lebanese political landscape, the Tashnag party refused to surrender. Such surrender would have put an end to the viability of the Bloc as an independent entity.

During the 1970s, the consistently popular Armenian Lebanese Tashnag party reached out to the minority Armenian Lebanese groupings by including a Ramgavar and a Hunchak candidate in its party list thus fostering intra-Armenian Lebanese consensus and the formation of the traditional unity list.

The parliamentarians, elected on that list, were completely accountable to the Armenian Lebanese community. But currently, four out of six are controlled by Hariri. And as such, they are accountable only to him.

Now, the burning question is that, how much longer, the Hariri family, under the leadership of the late PMs son Saad, will continue to usurp the rights of the Armenian Lebanese majority?

The right of the majority in the Armenian Lebanese community to direct representation must not be tempered with by Hariri or anyone else in favor of a foreign deal such as Turkcell; or for any other political motive.