Lebanon Armenians up in arms over planned Turkey deal
Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian was greeted by thousands of angry demonstrators as he arrived in Lebanon on September 6 to discuss with the local Armenian community plans to establish ties with Turkey, reports AFP.
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.
Some demonstrators clashed briefly with anti-riot police who had deployed around the hotel, and a handful of people were lightly injured by batons, an AFP correspondent said.
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 massacres in eastern Anatolia under Ottoman rule almost a century ago.
"After nearly 100 years of fighting for our cause, how can our enemy become our friend in the blink of an eye," asked a visibly angry Koko Marashlian, a store owner in Beirut's Armenian neighbourhood of Burj Hammud.
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.
Stores in Burj Hammud also shut down on Tuesday afternoon in protest.
"We remember, we demand, we refuse," read placards put up throughout the neighbourhood, where Armenian patriotic music blared.
"These agreements will sound the death knell of our cause," store-owner Marashlian said. "As descendants of those exiled, we are the main victims of these agreements."
Keborg Abajian, 55, who runs a coffeeshop, said he was ready to take up arms to prevent the normalisation of 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 decide 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."
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kin were systematically killed between 1915 and 1917 as the Ottoman Empire was falling apart.
Turkey rejects the genocide label and argues that 300,000-500,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil strife when Armenians took up arms against their Ottoman rulers and sided with invading Russian troops.
Sarkisian's tour has also included stops in France and the United States and was to conclude in Russia.
