Armenians Protest Turkish Peacekeepers In Lebanon

October 13, 2006 10:45 a.m. EST

Joseph S. Mayton – All Headline News Middle East Correspondent Beirut,
Lebanon (AHN) – Thousands of Lebanese of Armenian descent demonstrated
against Turkish involvement in the revamped United Nations
peacekeeping force in the country on Thursday. The rally was held at
Martyr’s Square in downtown Beirut.

"We, the Armenian community, are against the deployment of Turkish
troops in South Lebanon, because of their history as a violent state,"
Hagop Havatian, a spokesman for the ARFTashnak Party, said at the
protest.

"Last week we sent letters to every member of the Lebanese parliament
asking them to reconsider the issue. We also sent a letter to
[U.N. Secretary General] Kofi Annan but until now, there has been no
reply," Havatian continued. Armenians argue that up to 1.5 million of
their ancestors were killed in orchestrated killings by Ottoman Turks
during the first World War. Most historians say this was genocide.

"We will continue our refusal in democratic ways," Havatian
added. "This act ignores one of the biggest groups in Lebanon. We feel
hurt and feel humiliated and hope the Lebanese government will
reconsider this issue and our feelings," he said.