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LEBANESE ARMENIANS RIOT IN BEIRUT OVER ERDOGAN VISIT
By The Associated Press
Published 21:57 25.11.10
Lebanon has 150,000 Armenians who harbor deep animosity toward the
Turks over the 1915 killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians.
Hundreds of Lebanese of Armenian descent clashed with army troops
during a protest Thursday over a visit to Beirut by the Turkish
prime minister.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the
inauguration ceremony of a Turkish Trauma and Emergency hospital in
the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Thursday, Nov. 25, 2010.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was on a two day trip
during which he met with officials and visited the north and south
of the country. He was inaugurating a hospital in the southern port
city of Sidon on Thursday as hundreds of protesters gathered in the
capital's Martyrs' Square to denounce his visit.
Lebanon has 150,000 Armenians, or nearly 4 percent of its population,
whom harbor deep animosity toward the Turks over the 1915 killing of
up to 1.5 million Armenians.
When demonstrators tore up a large poster of Erdogan and pelted troops
with rocks, security responded by beating up a number of them.
There were no reports of major injuries.
Erdogan, who also attended a business conference Thursday, warned
Israel his country will not keep silent in case it attacks Lebanon
or Gaza again.
They invade Lebanon with the most modern warplanes and tanks, they
kill children and destroy schools and hospitals, and they expect us
to remain silent? he asked.
We will not keep silent and we will stand with all our capabilities
with what is right, he said.
Once close allies, ties between Israel and Turkey worsened in the
wake of the Gaza war and have practically broken down since Israel's
deadly commando raid in May on a Turkish-led flotilla trying to breach
the blockade in Gaza. Nine Turks were killed in the raid.
During his visit to Lebanon, Erdogan repeatedly demanded an Israeli
apology for the incident.
From: A. Papazian
By The Associated Press
Published 21:57 25.11.10
Lebanon has 150,000 Armenians who harbor deep animosity toward the
Turks over the 1915 killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians.
Hundreds of Lebanese of Armenian descent clashed with army troops
during a protest Thursday over a visit to Beirut by the Turkish
prime minister.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the
inauguration ceremony of a Turkish Trauma and Emergency hospital in
the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Thursday, Nov. 25, 2010.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was on a two day trip
during which he met with officials and visited the north and south
of the country. He was inaugurating a hospital in the southern port
city of Sidon on Thursday as hundreds of protesters gathered in the
capital's Martyrs' Square to denounce his visit.
Lebanon has 150,000 Armenians, or nearly 4 percent of its population,
whom harbor deep animosity toward the Turks over the 1915 killing of
up to 1.5 million Armenians.
When demonstrators tore up a large poster of Erdogan and pelted troops
with rocks, security responded by beating up a number of them.
There were no reports of major injuries.
Erdogan, who also attended a business conference Thursday, warned
Israel his country will not keep silent in case it attacks Lebanon
or Gaza again.
They invade Lebanon with the most modern warplanes and tanks, they
kill children and destroy schools and hospitals, and they expect us
to remain silent? he asked.
We will not keep silent and we will stand with all our capabilities
with what is right, he said.
Once close allies, ties between Israel and Turkey worsened in the
wake of the Gaza war and have practically broken down since Israel's
deadly commando raid in May on a Turkish-led flotilla trying to breach
the blockade in Gaza. Nine Turks were killed in the raid.
During his visit to Lebanon, Erdogan repeatedly demanded an Israeli
apology for the incident.
From: A. Papazian