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  • Armenians Protest Protocols

    ARMENIANS PROTEST PROTOCOLS

    AZG DAILY
    29-09-2009
    Armenia-Turkey

    Thousands rally in the Pelanconi Park area against parts of proposed
    deal with Turkey.

    Chanting and signs filled Pelanconi Park and its surrounding streets
    Sunday as thousands of people gathered to rally against the protocols
    for new talks between Armenia and Turkey.

    The talks are a part of a "road map" agreed upon last spring for
    normalizing diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia and
    opening the border between them. The proposed deal still must receive
    Parliamentary approval from both countries.

    The two countries have long clashed over the mass killings of
    Armenians in 1915 at the hands of the Ottoman Empire. Turkey refuses
    to categorize the deaths as genocide and has strongly fought against
    any formal recognition of the massacres.

    The event was organized by the Social Democrat Hunchakian Party, the
    Armenian Revolutionary Federation, the Armenian Democratic Liberal
    Party and the Unified Young Armenians. Leaders from the organizations
    met following the announcement of the protocols and joined together
    in opposing them.

    On Sunday, thousands of people came from all over California as well
    as neighboring states. Thirty-seven buses brought people from across
    the Los Angeles area, while many others were forced to park blocks
    away. They streamed onto Grandview Avenue, which was blocked off from
    traffic with a police blockade.

    Those in attendance expressed anger about the protocols, which would
    which they said were not fair to Armenia.

    "Don't give in to Turkey," they chanted in Armenian. "Stand up and
    fight until the end."

    Arek Santikian, chairman of the Armenian Youth Federation's western
    region, said the event's organizers expected more than 10,000 people
    to attend what he emphasized was a rally for people to voice their
    opinions that Armenia should not agree to the protocols.

    "It's all of the Armenian community rallying together," he said.

    The most controversial facet of the p istorical commission to question
    the validity of the Armenian Genocide.

    "That would make what has become a political issue into a historical
    issue," Santikian said.

    Glendale High School senior Salpi Topjian and Hoover High School
    senior Annabelle Mehrabian said they came out to the event because
    the Armenian Genocide is something that must not be forgotten.

    Still, they said they were shocked by the number of people in
    attendance.

    "They really want to show their support for Armenia," Mehrabian said,
    GlendaleNewsPress reported.
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