the importance of the countries demographic in running political operations. However, Armenian and Assyrian refugees came to Lebanon in 1915 from present-day southeastern Turkey, following the Armenian and Assyrian genocide. And when Lebanon was formed after Ottoman rule subsided, these Armenians and Assyrians were given citizenship to Lebanon. Also, under the Syrian-occupied Lebanon in 1994, the government naturalized over 154,931 foreign residents, of Palestinian (mostly Palestinian Christians) and Syrian (mostly Syrian Sunnis and Christians) descent. The purpose of these naturalization was to sway the elections to a pro-Syrian government. This allegation is based on how these new citizens were bused in to vote and displayed higher voting rates than the nationals did. On June 1, 2018, the notoriously anti-naturalization Lebanese president, Michel Aoun signed a naturalization decree granting citizenship to a reported 300 individuals. These individuals come for various backgrounds and religions, however all of them are in one way wealthy and have ties to Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad. Ethnic groups Although the majority of Syrians in Lebanon are Arabs (including Palestinians residing in Syria), there exists various ethnic and religious minorities, namely Syrian Armenians, Syrian Turkmen and Syrian Kurds. Palestinians This group consists of descendants of Palestinian refugees who were displaced from Palestine during the 1947–1949 Palestine war to Syria, and then from Syria to Lebanon because of the Syrian civil war that started in 2011. These Palestinians have been met with favor from existing Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. In January 2015, more Palestinians refugees were recorded to be in Syria than in Lebanon, including the already existing refugees preceding 2011, although in light of the European Migrant Crisis, the numbers have allegedly dropped with many fleeing to Europe and a few to Lebanon. Turkmen In October 2015, the Syrian independent newspaper Zaman Al Wasl reported that 125,000 to 150,000 Syrian Turkmen refugees arrived in Lebanon, now outnumbering the Turkish minority of Lebanon. Many of them settled in the small village of Kaweishra known for its Turkish identity. The Turkish government has previously sent out food aid specifically for Turkmen refugees in Lebanon. In 2018 the number of Syrian Turkmen in Lebanon had increased to approximately 200,000. Kurds Following the unification of Syria and Egypt in 1958 which resulted in strong Arab nationalism, oppressive measures were taken against Kurds in Syria. This led to a wave of Syrian Kurds resettling into Lebanon. More recently, due to the influx of