Agence France Presse
September 6, 2008 Saturday
Protests, boos greet Turkish president in Armenia
by Nicolas Cheviron
YEREVAN, Sept 6 2008
Turkish President Abdullah Gul was followed Saturday by protests,
shouting and boos on a landmark visit to Armenia where many are
furious Turkey refuses to recognise 1915-1917 massacres as genocide.
Carrying Armenian flags and signs reading "Recognise the genocide,"
hundreds of protesters lined the road from Yerevan’s airport as his
convoy headed to Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian’s offices for
talks.
"We are here because we want to tell the entire world that we do not
forget the genocide of 1915. We will not welcome Gul or any other Turk
until they have recognised the genocide," one protester Bardasar
Akhpar told AFP.
The two countries — which have no diplomatic relations — have fought
an acrimonious diplomatic battle over Yerevan’s efforts to have the
1915-1917 massacre of hundreds of thousands of Armenians recognised as
genocide.
As he arrived at the seat of the Armenian presidency, Gul was greeted
by more protesters, chanting "Recognise!" and carrying signs reading
"1915 Never Again."
After talks with Sarkisian and a pledge from both leaders to try and
resolve the animosity between the their countries, Gul received
another rude welcome on arrival at Yerevan’s Hrazdan stadium to watch
a World Cup football qualifier.
Armenian fans booed and hissed loudly as Gul took his seat behind a
special bullet-proof area and as the Turkish national anthem played.
The boos continued with every move by the Turkish team, supported by
only about 200 forlorn followers in a seating area that could have
held 10 times more and was ringed by Armenian police.
As the match began, another protest took place at a hill-top memorial
to victims of the killings, not far from the stadium.
About 80 young protesters gathered at a monument to lay flowers and
light torches that they said would burn for the entirety of the match.
"We want to draw (Gul’s) attention to this monument, so he knows it is
not standing empty and that people have gathered here to show that the
young generation remembers everything," said organiser Airapet
Babaian.
Security was tight, especially on Gul’s airport route and at the match
with local media reporting that both Turkish and Armenian snipers were
training their sights across the stadium.
Traffic was blocked around the ground and fans were subjected to
repeated body searches as they entered.
Fans dispersed peacefully following the match, which Turkey won 2-0.
Emotions run high in both countries over Armenia’s claims that the
World War I-era massacres should be classified as genocide.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their people were killed between
1915 and 1917 in orchestrated massacres as the Ottoman Empire fell
apart — a claim supported by several other countries.
Turkey rejects the genocide label and argues that 300,000-500,000
Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil strife when
Armenians took up arms for independence in eastern Anatolia and sided
with invading Russian troops.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
