MORE THAN 12,000 ARMENIANS PROTEST PROTOCOLS DURING SERZH SARKISIAN VISIT TO LOS ANGELES

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
05.10.2009 11:06 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ More than 12,000 Armenian Americans from throughout
California converged on the Beverly Hilton Hotel to protes the
Turkey-Armenia protocols as Armenia President Serzh Sarkisian met
with representatives of Armenian American organizations to defend his
decision to sign the flawed documents. The protest was organized by
the Stop The Protocols Campaign.

Blockades and guardrails contained protesters who held signs
proclaiming, "Serzh Don’t Betray the Armenian People," "Turkey Accept
the Genocide!" and "No to the Protocols!" Meanwhile, planes overhead
were carrying banners which stated "Stop Turkish-Armenian Protocols,"
as large moving vans drove around the hotel with billboards picturing
presidents Sarkisian and Gul with the slogan "Don’t Betray us."

Prior to the beginning of the community meeting, Pres. Sarkisian’s
delegation stood out on their 12th floor balcony and watched
demonstrators, who called out in hopes that the President would
address them directly.

Pres. Sarkisian chose not to address the people. During the fourth
hour of the protest, several hundred frustrated demonstrators broke
through the barricades and stormed across the street to the hotel
entrance, yelling "votch, votch," stopping traffic on Wilshire Blvd.

Meanwhile ARF Western Region Central Committee member Hovan Tashdjian,
who had just left the meeting with the President, described a tense
Pres. Sarkisian faced with overwhelming opposition by representatives
of Diasporan organizations, attempting to defend the formation of
a so-called "historical commission" and arguing that the Protocols
would not affect the Karabakh peace process, asbarez.com reported