ARMENIAN PROTESTERS TRAP TURKISH AMBASSADOR IN BEIRUT THEATER

10:57, 19 Mar 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

Turkey’s Ambassador to Lebanon, Suleiman Inan Oz Yildiz, was
temporarily trapped inside a Beirut movie theater, as Armenian
demonstrators held a protest outside, reported the Lebanese Daily
Star newspaper.

Approximately 60 members of the Armenian Youth Federation of Lebanon
and the Zavarian Student Association held a demonstration at the
entrance of ABC Grand Cinema in Ashrafieh, where Yildiz was attending
a screening of “Son Mektup.”

The film, a Turkish love story, is set during the Battle of Gallipoli,
and tells the story of the Ottoman Empire’s first pilot, Salih Ekrem.

According to the report, protestors yelled out slogans such as
“Genocide,” “Truth will triumph” and “We remember,” and held banners
reading “Recognize the crime of the century.” Security forces were
brought in to block the entrance of the theater to prevent patrons
from clashing with protesters.

The protest was organized as a result of Turkey’s efforts to sway
public attention away from the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide
by focusing on the Battle of Gallipoli.

“Here we are in Beirut today witnessing a new Turkish opportunist
bid through the showing of a propaganda film in Lebanese movie
theaters,” the Armenian Youth Federation said in a statement,
according toNaharnet.

The film “narrates a bloody and oppressive phase of the Ottoman
history,” the statement said.

It also slammed the employees of the “ominous Turkish embassy and
those who work in its ‘black rooms’.”

“The step might seem innocent on the surface but its core and
objectives are full of inherent Turkish malevolence.”

From: Baghdasarian