THOUSANDS OF ANGRY DEMONSTRATORS GREETED ARMENIAN PRESIDENT AS HE ARRIVED IN LEBANON

PanARMENIAN.Net
07.10.2009 00:55 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian was greeted by
thousands of angry demonstrators as he arrived in Lebanon on Tuesday
to discuss with the local Armenian community plans to establish ties
with Turkey.

The demonstrators — men, women and children — carried placards that
read "no to the agreements" and "the blood of Armenians not up for
sale" as they marched outside Sarkisian’s hotel on the outskirts of
Beirut, AFP reports.

Some demonstrators clashed briefly with anti-riot police who had
deployed around the hotel, and a handful of people were lightly
injured by batons.

Sarkisian’s short stop in Beirut is part of a week-long international
trip aimed at calming concerns among the Armenian diaspora over
Turkish-Armenian efforts to normalise relations.

But such plans have angered many in Lebanon’s 140,000-strong Armenian
community, mostly made up of the descendants of those who survived
Armenian Genocide Ottoman rule almost a century ago.

Hagop Pakradounian, one of six Armenian deputies in Lebanon’s
parliament, said the community was all for improved ties between
Armenia and Turkey but not at any price.

"This issue concerns Armenians worldwide and not just those in
Armenia," Pakradounian told AFP.

"We are not talking about a simple economic accord between two
countries but a historic one that concerns each Armenian family,
whatever its nationality," he said.

Community members have drawn up a petition condemning the agreements
set to be signed later this month between Turkey and Armenia on
establishing diplomatic ties.

"I will shut down my shop to go fight so that our martyrs are not
forgotten," he said. "We want to recover our land. My ancestors owned
huge plots of land in Urfa," in southeast Turkey.

Some members of the younger generation, however, appeared to adopt
a more conciliatory tone, saying it was time to move on.

"The state of Armenia has made a decision and who am I to de what is
best for its people," asked jeweller Haig Asmarian, 34. "My grandfather
still has the titles to his property but it’s time to turn the page.

"And who knows, maybe this will benefit Armenia economically."