ARMENIA: AMID PROTESTS, SARGSYAN PUSHES FOR RECONCILIATION WITH TURKEY

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10/05/09

Several Diaspora protests have put a dent in Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan’s effort to sell his government’s plan to reconcile with
Turkey to Armenians abroad.

Sargsyan is currently on a world tour to explain his government’s
position on the Armenian-Turkish protocols. [For background see the
Eurasia Insight archive].

Upwards of 3,000 Armenian emigres staged a protest on October 4 in
front of the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles, where Sargsyan was
staying as a part of his tour. Armenian news sources reported that
protesters held up slogans urging "No to the Protocols," the documents
that will set the groundwork for diplomatic ties with Turkey and
reopening the two countries’ border after a 16-year closure. Armenian
Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu are expected to sign the protocols in Zurich on October
10. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

A similar demonstration in Paris turned violent on October 2, when
Diaspora protesters accused Sargsyan of treason and clashed with
riot police.

Meanwhile, in Armenia itself, objections to reconciliation with Turkey
show little sign of abating. The nationalist Armenian Revolution
Federation-Dashnaktsutiun, Armenia’s oldest political party, has been
maintaining a round-the-clock hunger strike in downtown Yerevan for
three weeks. Party members have been sitting in front of the Foreign
Ministry in 48-hour shifts, according to an October 4 blog post for
the Frontline Club, a London-based media organization.