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Lebanese Armenians Oppose Turkish Troops In UN Force

LEBANESE ARMENIANS OPPOSE TURKISH TROOPS IN UN FORCE

Agence France Presse — English
August 31, 2006 Thursday 6:58 PM GMT

Several hundred Lebanese Armenians protested Thursday outside the
United Nations headquarters against the planned participation by
Turkish troops in a UN peacekeeping force.

They urged UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in a letter to "hear the
voice of Armenians who are an active force in Lebanon" and bar the
soldiers from joining the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon
(UNIFIL).

On Monday, Turkish authorities said they would contribute to a
reinforced UNIFIL mission aimed at underpinning a truce in south
Lebanon between Israeli forces and Shiite Hezbollah guerrillas.

The Armenians waved banners which read: "Turkish atrocities in Lebanon
disqualify them for peacekeeping missions."

The slogans referred to the massacres of Armenians by the Ottoman
empire in 1915-1917 and the concurrent Ottoman occupation of Lebanon.

Lebanon hosts the largest community of Armenians in the Arab world.

They form a political force and are actively engaged in a campaign
for international recognition of the Armenian genocide.

Rally organisers also distributed an open letter to the Turkish
government.

"Countries that contribute to the peacekeeping force must be neutral,
this is not the case of Turkey which has signed a security and military
cooperation accord with Israel," it read.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Emil Lazarian: “I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.” - WS
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