Hundreds of Lebanese Armenians gathered at the main square in Bourdj Hammoud Friday to take part in a demonstration organized by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Central Committee of Lebanon as a protest to the deployment of Turkish troops to southern Lebanon as part of the United Nations peacekeeping mission. Speaking on behalf of the ARF, Hratch Varjabedian said that the Armenian community of Lebanon – and all Armenians – will assert its protest because Turkey is the number one enemy of the Armenian people, adding that the Lebanese government’s ignoring of the Armenian community’s will was deemed unacceptable, referring to a decision Monday by the Lebanese cabinet to allow Turkish forces in Lebanon. “Turkey, which carried out horrible crimes against humanity, cannot take part in any peace process until it recognizes the Genocide of the Armenian people,” Jacques Choukhadarian, a former Parliament member and minister, told Friday’s gathering.
Representatives of the community have sent letters to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and to Western embassies in Beirut urging them to reject Turkish participation in the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) set to number 15,000 troops from various countries. Religious leaders has also issued a statement calling the Turkish participation in UNIFIL “morally unacceptable,” reported the Asbarez.
