by David Zenian
ALEPPO, Syria - Like the country they call their adopted homeland, the Armenians of Syria have had a major impact on Armenian communities from neighboring Lebanon to the distant shores of the Arab World.
They have sent the first students to the medical school of the American University of Beirut, teachers to Armenian schools around the world and pioneered the light industry of post-World War II Syria.
"Look around you ... in Amman, Baghdad, Beirut, Cairo, or even in Paris, New York or Los Angeles ... in industry, business, medicine or education ... You will see a lot of people who trace their roots to Aleppo, or Syria in general," says Dr. Mikayel Dimijian.
"Aleppo has always been the oak tree of the Arab World's Armenian communities .. It has been a source of strength and inspiration," he says with pride.
Aleppo, in northern Syria, maintained a large Armenian community well before other cities in the Middle East.
Thousands of Armenians were exiled into Syria by the Ottoman Turks. Thousands perished in the Syrian desert, while others found refuge in Aleppo.
There, they began a new life, building schools, churches, community centers and hospitals. "We felt safe in Syria," says Genocide survivor 90-year-old Kevork Nazarian, a master silversmith who only recently donated his life's savings of 2.5 million Syrian pounds (dlrs 60,000) to the AGBU in Aleppo.
When the survivors of the Genocide arrived, the earlier settlers had already started to be Arabized. One reason for that was the absence of schools.
That has changed, and today, thanks to the relentless efforts and convictions of the nearly 40,000-strong Armenian community, Aleppo has at least 10 schools, a hospital and maternity, old age homes, and a very productive infrastructure.
"Armenian schools, from kindergarten to high school, have at least 7,000 students. Despite some restrictive laws, the teaching of Armenian is as good as Lebanon where Armenians enjoy the possibility of teaching 10 hours of Armenian if they want to," said AGBU's Lazar Najarian-Gulbenkian school administrator Alexan Attarian.
"In the elementary classes, we are permitted to teach four hours of Arme-nian language and three hours of religion per week. The same is true with the higher classes ... But the Syrian authorities are very understanding ... We teach adequate Armenian," he says with a smile.
The authorities are also showing "flexibility" on other Armenian community affairs such as youth activities.
Like Iran, the Boy Scout movement is banned in Syria, but the Armenians are free to organize youth activities "which only differ from the scout movement in name."
As a sign of what some see as the "preferential treatment" of Armenians by the Baathist central government of Syrian President Hafez Assad, the authorities allowed Armenian groups like the AGBU's Armenian Youth Association (AYA) to organize a boy scout-type camping trip to the traditionally Armenian coastal mountain resort of Kessab.
"In earlier years, we could not go camping under tents ... For the authorities, tents had some sort of a military overtone ... Camping meant gathering the youth in dormitories like the AGBU's Kessab resort which was built in 1968 ... For the first time in many years, we received permission to use tents this year - like real boy and girl scouts," one of the organizers said.
"No scout uniforms, but this year the children wore identical T-shirts ... a good start ... Maybe next year we will have uniforms," he said.
Kessab, once an exclusively Armenian mountain village on the hills east of the Mediterranean coastal city of Latakia, now has a sizable Arab community.
But despite the influx of newcomers in recent years - mainly during the summer months - the village has maintained its Armenian character with three churches and a number of schools.
If the church is a reminder to visitors that Kessab is still an Armenian village in Syria, it is also true that the character of the Armenian schools has not been changed by the government-appointed Arab principals.
Attarian, recognized by the government as administrator of the AGBU school in Aleppo, is theoretically subordinate to the state-appointed Syrian principal, but in fact is in charge of the day-to-day operation of Lazar Najarian- Gulbenkian school which prides itself with Aleppo's highest success rate in the all too important state Baccalaureate examination. The school with its 1200 student enrollment is the largest Armenian school in the Diaspora.
"At a time when the nation-wide average of those who pass the exam is 20 percent, we have never dropped below 75 percent ... Most years our success rate is 95 percent - much better than any other school in Aleppo," Attarian said.
The AGBU has just finished the construction of a three-story modern annex to the school which will add 12 classrooms to the complex. Construction of three more kindergarten classes is also nearing completion.
The need for more classrooms was triggered by the influx of Armenian families into Aleppo from not only other parts of Syria, but also from neighboring Lebanon and the Gulf State of Kuwait.
According to available statistics, 5,000 Kuwaiti Armenians took shelter in Aleppo during or immediately after the Gulf War. Most are still there.
"Self-sufficiency is the key to our existence and well being as a community. If we want to attract more students, we have to have good schools. This needs money," says a community leader.
With that in mind, the AGBU Regional Committee of Syria - which is based in Aleppo - has embarked on the ambitious task of building an apartment complex in the center of the city which will soon generate some of the much needed funds to meet the financial needs of the organization.
Many of the people involved with the construction of the building are volunteers. This includes the engineer, architect and others. Upon completion, the building will comprise 22 apartments and 21 shops.
The Aleppo community's strides in education parallel the success stories involving the modernization of the old Armenian hospital and the dozens of industrialists.
The Verjin Gulbenkian Hospital, which has been serving the community for decades, has been refurbished in recent years. Now, it has an impressive staff of 14 gynecologists, seven surgeons, 10 family doctors and 20 nurses. More than 90 percent of the medical personnel are Armenian together with 70 percent of the general staff.
On the industrial level, the Kradjian brothers own one of the best kitchen appliance factories in Aleppo.
Located on the outskirts of Aleppo, the 15-year-old factory produces approximately 6,000 refrigerators and gas ovens a year.
Not too far away, George Kalaydjian and his partners own one of Aleppo's three battery factories.
"At the moment, our annual production is 30,000 batteries - for cars, trucks, and large agricultural vehicles. We can easily expand to 120,000 if the government grants us an export license," he said.
Kalaydjian, like most Armenian industrialists in Syria, is not only an ingenious craftsman and expert in his trade, he is also a dreamer.
"Syria is opening up, and the government now is encouraging private enterprise more than say even five years ago ... A more open approach to business is good for everyone ... including the Armenian community," he said.
