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Thousands of Lebanese Armenians Protest Turkey-Armenia Deal
naharnet.lb
Beirut, 10 Oct 09, 19:28
Thousands of Lebanese Armenians demonstrated on Saturday against
Yerevan's plans to establish ties with Ankara, gathering outside the
Turkish embassy in Rabieh and the Armenian patriarchy in Antelias.
Several hundred of the community, the largest in the Arab world at
around 140,000 people, rallied outside the Turkish embassy in Rabieh,
north of the capital, where security forces formed a cordon.
They removed some barbed wire before being forced to retreat when the
security forces fired tear gas into the crowd.
Angry youths carrying Armenian flags chanted "Turkey out."
Separately, thousands of protestors wearing T-shirts bearing the word
"No" gathered late in the afternoon at the Armenian patriarchy in
Antelias, also north of Beirut.
Turkey and Armenia are set to take a historic step towards
reconciliation in Zurich on Saturday by signing pacts to normalize ties
after nearly a century of bitterness over their blood-soaked past.
The agreement, which must be ratified by the parliaments of both
countries, faces deep resistance with the influential Armenian
diasporas.
Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian recently toured four major host
countries of the community -- France, the United States, Lebanon and
Russia -- to try to allay their fears.(AFP)
naharnet.lb
Beirut, 10 Oct 09, 19:28
Thousands of Lebanese Armenians demonstrated on Saturday against
Yerevan's plans to establish ties with Ankara, gathering outside the
Turkish embassy in Rabieh and the Armenian patriarchy in Antelias.
Several hundred of the community, the largest in the Arab world at
around 140,000 people, rallied outside the Turkish embassy in Rabieh,
north of the capital, where security forces formed a cordon.
They removed some barbed wire before being forced to retreat when the
security forces fired tear gas into the crowd.
Angry youths carrying Armenian flags chanted "Turkey out."
Separately, thousands of protestors wearing T-shirts bearing the word
"No" gathered late in the afternoon at the Armenian patriarchy in
Antelias, also north of Beirut.
Turkey and Armenia are set to take a historic step towards
reconciliation in Zurich on Saturday by signing pacts to normalize ties
after nearly a century of bitterness over their blood-soaked past.
The agreement, which must be ratified by the parliaments of both
countries, faces deep resistance with the influential Armenian
diasporas.
Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian recently toured four major host
countries of the community -- France, the United States, Lebanon and
Russia -- to try to allay their fears.(AFP)