By Katia Peltekian
BEIRUT, LEBANON
Lebanese-Armenians Demonstrate
(© K. Peltekian)
“Martyrs’ square is a witness to Turkish inhumanity”; “A murderer
cannot become a peacekeeper”; “Turks have passed by here & left behind
death and destruction”; “Dear Lebanese: the Turkish dictionary does
not include the words ‘Justice’ and ‘peace'”; “Genocide, massacre,
deportation, annihilation: Turkish definition of peace”; “Turkey is
not welcome in Lebanon”. These were some of the banners written in
Arabic, Armenian and English carried by the Lebanese-Armenians who
converged at Martyrs’ Square in the center of Beirut. They came to
protest the deployment of Turkish troops as part of the
peace-enforcing UNIFIL troops in Lebanon.
Yesterday afternoon, thousands of Armenians, young and old, gathered
in downtown Beirut to express their rejection of the Turkish presence
in Lebanon. They came from all corners of Lebanon and met at the exact
spot where the Ottoman Turks hanged many Lebanese intellectuals in
1916. They came to remind both the Lebanese and Turkish governments
that there is an important community in Lebanon that will not forgot
the butchery that Turks committed not only to the Armenians but also
to the Lebanese.
Lebanese-Armenians Demonstrate
(© K. Peltekian)
The rally was organized by the Tashnak Party’s youth committee and the
ARF Zavarian Students’ Association. In addition to the school and
university students, there were delegates from Armenian organizations
from Ainjar, Zahle, Metn, Tripoli, and Bourj Hammoud. They carried
banners as well as the Armenian and Lebanese flags. Also present were
Bishop Kegham Khacherian, MPs Edgar Maalouf, Hagop Pakradouni, Saleem
Aoun, ex-ministers Sebouh Hovnanian, Hagop Joukhadarian, and Alain
Tabourian. However, with the exception of very few, the absence of
Lebanese public, officials and politicians was noticeable.
Speaking on behalf of the ARF Youth Committee, Khajag Balolian stated
that the Lebanese should not accept the military presence of a country
whose record shows numerous human rights violations and whose history
is full of massacres and hostility towards other nations. Turkish
forces are back on Lebanese soil desecrating the same land where they
had committed crimes against the Lebanese in 1916, he asserted, and
that no one could deny the fact that the Ottomans committed atrocities
against the freedom-loving Lebanese and that no one could deny the
Genocide of the Armenian people at the hands of the Turks starting
in 1915. Balolian stated that the Lebanese parliament recognized the
Armenian Genocide in 2000, yet the current government shows no respect
towards the feelings of the Armenians.
Lebanese-Armenians Demonstrate
(© K. Peltekian)
MP Hagop Pakradouni stated that this issue was not only an Armenian
issue. He said that although Turkey claims it is working towards
keeping peace between Lebanon and Israel, it does not believe in
peace. Turkey’s past and present are full of wars and hostility
towards the Armenians, the Kurds, the Cypriots, the Greeks and
Syria. He said that such a country could not act as a peacekeeper.
What is even more dangerous, according to Pakradouni, is that Turkey
has signed several military offensive and defensive cooperation
agreements with Israel, so it could not be considered a neutral party
in the conflict between Lebanon and Israel.
Lebanese-Armenians Demonstrate
(© K. Peltekian)
According to sources, Pakradouni stated that the Armenian community in
Lebanon will continue its peaceful demonstrations and declared the
Lebanese government responsible for not taking the Armenians’ opinion
into consideration. In an interview with the Lebanese An-Nahar
newspaper, Pakradouni said that although a number of cabinet ministers
also rejected the presence of Turkish troops in Lebanon, PM Fouad
Seniora ignored their views claiming that Moslem forces were needed in
the UNIFIL Peace-enforcing troops. Pakradouni also held the Lebanese
government responsible if a “third party commits a violent activity
against the Turkish troops.”
Lebanese-Armenians Demonstrate
(© K. Peltekian)
In addition to the Lebanese and Armenian flags, some carried the
French flag with banners saying “Merci, France” for voting on a bill
that criminalizes Genocide denial.
The rally was covered by local, regional and international TV stations
and news agencies, including the Turkish Cihan News Agency that has
been in Beirut for more than a week now to cover the Turkish
deployment in South Lebanon. Photos of the rally covered the front
pages of today’s Lebanese newspapers except for Al-Mustaqbal (The
Future), which is owned by the family of the late PM Rafiq al-
Hariri. The pro-government newspaper completely ignored the
demonstration in today’s edition.