LEBANON’S ARMENIANS PROTEST AGAINST TURKISH FORCES

Yerkir
11.09.2006 12:10

YEREVAN (YERKIR) – Hundreds of Lebanese Armenians gathered at the
main square in Bourdj Hammoud Friday to take part in a demonstration
organized by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Central Committee
of Lebanon as a protest to the deployment of Turkish troops to southern
Lebanon as part of the United Nations peacekeeping mission.

Speaking on behalf of the ARF, Hratch Varjabedian said that the
Armenian community of Lebanon – and all Armenians – will assert
its protest because Turkey is the number one enemy of the Armenian
people, adding that the Lebanese government’s ignoring of the Armenian
community’s will was deemed unacceptable, referring to a decision
Monday by the Lebanese cabinet to allow Turkish forces in Lebanon.

"Turkey, which carried out horrible crimes against humanity, cannot
take part in any peace process until it recognizes the Genocide of
the Armenian people," Jacques Choukhadarian, a former Parliament
member and minister, told Friday’s gathering.

Representatives of the community have sent letters to UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan and to Western embassies in Beirut urging them
to reject Turkish participation in the UN Interim Force in Lebanon
(UNIFIL) set to number 15,000 troops from various countries. Religious
leaders has also issued a statement calling the Turkish participation
in UNIFIL "morally unacceptable," reported the Asbarez.