The Daily Star, Lebanon
Oct 13 2006

Armenians protest Turkish UNIFIL role
Demonstrators point to world war I-era massacres

By Iman Azzi
Daily Star staff
Friday, October 13, 2006

BEIRUT: The red, orange and blue stripes of the Armenian flag
fluttered beside the cedar of Lebanon Thursday as thousands of
Lebanese citizens of Armenian descent protested Turkey’s planned
participation in the UN peacekeeping forces patrolling South Lebanon.
"We, the Armenian community, are against the deployment of Turkish
troops in South Lebanon, because of their history as a violent
state," explained Hagop Havatian, spokesman for the ARF Tashnak
Party, the youth party responsible for coordinating Thursday’s
demonstration. "Last week we sent letters to every member of the
Lebanese Parliament asking them to reconsider this issue. We also
sent a letter to [UN Secretary General] Kofi Annan but until now,
these has been no reply."

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their ancestors were slaughtered
in orchestrated killings by Ottoman Turks during World War I, in an
act they maintain can only be seen as genocide. The rally took place
at Beirut’s Martyrs Square, which honors six Lebanese nationalists
who were hanged by the Ottomans during the war.

It was the third such protest organized by the Lebanese-Armenian
community, which is said to number over 200,000. The rally drew a
larger crowd than previous rallies held in front of UN House in
Beirut and in Bourj Hammoud.

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

Razmig Karayan was attending the protest with his girlfriend. "I am
here against the Turks," he said. "I don’t trust them. They are
friends with Israel … They can’t be depended on to work for peace."

A statement circulated at the protest read: "Any participant force in
the UNIFIL should be welcomed by the whole Lebanese society …
Turkey continues to lead a hostile foreign policy in the region,
especially with its immediate neighbors and still occupies northern
Cyprus, continues to blockade Armenia, and refuses to recognize and
apologize for the 1915 Armenian genocide it has perpetrated."

Hundreds of students at Armenian private schools attended the rally
instead of class, some still sporting school uniforms. The protest
grew into a diverse crowd, from babies in strollers to older women
carrying walking sticks and teenagers sporting Armenian flags painted
on their cheeks.

Narine Bouljhourdjian left a class at the American University of
Beirut early to join the protest. She brought a friend on vacation
from Canada, who also was of Armenian descent.

"I believe that Turkey does not have the right to work for peace, not
with their history. Peace and Turkey just don’t correlate," she said.

Behind the two girls, a protester held a sign: "Placing Turkish
troops in Southern Lebanon is an insult to the collective memory of
Lebanon."

Another placard read: "Murderers cannot be peacekeepers."

In total, Turkey is to deploy some 700 soldiers and civil engineers
in Lebanon. Those who landed on Tuesday were the first Muslim
peacekeepers to arrive in the country.

Turkey held a sending-off ceremony Thursday for nearly 260 soldiers
and civil engineers scheduled to depart for the Southern port city
of Tyre on October 19 and are expected to help rebuild damaged
bridges and roads.

Earlier Thursday, French MPs approved a bill making it a crime to
deny that the 1915-1917 massacres of Armenians was genocide,
provoking the fury of the Turkish government. The bill still requires
approval by the French Senate and president Jacques Chirac, neither
of which is expected, to become law.

"What France has done is very good. The Lebanese government should do
the same instead of welcoming Turkish troops," said an elderly
demonstrator who gave his name as Taurus. The Lebanese Parliament
recognized the Armenian genocide in May 2000.

Overriding widespread opposition, the Turkish Parliament approved a
government motion on September 5 to join the United Nations Interim
Force in Lebanon. Turkish peacekeeping troops have also served in
Bosnia and Kosovo and have led international operations in Somalia
and Afghanistan. – With agencies