Lebanese Armenians are unhappy with Turkey deal
Middle East News

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Oct 11, 2009, 10:26 GMT

Beirut – Thousands of Armenians in Lebanon have signed a petition
condemning the accord signed over the weekend between Armenia and
Turkey, accusing Armenian President Serge Sarkisian of dismissing past
suffering caused by Turkey.

Some 1.5 million Armenians were killed under the Ottoman Empire during
the World War I period in 1915-1918 and a large number of Armenians
were dispersed through the world via Syria and Lebanon.

Armenians have charged that the killings constituted genocide, an
allegation which Turkey admantly denies.

‘There are 5.7 million Armenians living in the diaspora, the massacres
were an attempt to wipe out our people. How can we forget that?’ said
Alice Boghossian, a member an Lebanese-Armenian political party in
Lebanon, on Sunday.

She, along with Lebanese-Armenian politician Hagop Pakradounian,
opposed the ‘weak stance made by the Armenian president, and the
concessions he gave to Turkey.’

There are 150,000 Armenians in Lebanon, around four per cent of the
country’s population.

The two protocols between Turkey and Armenia were signed Saturday in
Switzerland to establish diplomatic relations, open the Turkish-
Armenia border closed in 1993, to set up committees to for economic,
environmental and other bilateral issues.

The protocols also foresee the establishment of a historical commission
to investigate the events during World War I.