Thousands protest Sarkisian in Los Angeles
Over 12,000 Armenian Americans from throughout
California gathered outside the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles
to protest the proposed agreement that Turkey and Armenia intend to
sign in a bid to normalize relations.
The protest came as Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian met with representatives of the Armenian diaspora to muster support for signing the agreement.
Protesters held signs saying, ``Serzh, don`t betray the Armenian people`` and ``No to the Protocols!``
Prior to the community meeting, President Sarkisian`s delegation stood out on their 12th floor balcony and watched demonstrators. Sarkisian did not react and chose not to address the crowd.
Sarkisian, who previously visited Paris and New York, was also met with protests there, and additional demonstrations are planned by Armenian communities in Lebanon and Russia.
On Friday, at the start of the Armenian president`s tour of Armenian communities worldwide, demonstrators in Paris shouted ``traitor!``, decrying his plans to establish ties with Turkey.
The Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani territories and the alleged killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians under Ottoman Empire during World War I have been roadblocks for Armenia-Turkey reconciliation. Armenians have long fought to persuade other governments to consider the alleged massacres as genocide. Turkey rejects the claims.
On August 31, Turkey and Armenia said they would set aside hostilities and establish diplomatic ties. The two governments announced they would launch domestic consultations over two protocols on forging diplomatic ties and developing bilateral relations, to be followed by their ratification in the Turkish and Armenian parliaments. On October 10, Ankara and Yerevan are expected to sign the protocols. The documents ultimately seek to open the Turkish-Armenian border, which has been shut since 1993.
The normalization would favor practical concerns such as oil interests, Turkey`s EU membership bid, and relations with Russia and the United States, the Associated Press said.
Armenians in their poor, isolated homeland are more eager to open up trade and other ties with Turkey than are many in the vast Armenian diaspora, most of whom are descendants of those who escaped the alleged slaughter, the report said.
Armenians abroad - estimated at 5.7 million - outnumber the 3.2 million living in Armenia, the smallest of the former Soviet republics. The largest communities are in Russia (2 million), the United States (1.4 million), Georgia (460,000), and France (450,000), according to government data.
Meanwhile, Armenia`s ruling coalition expressed support for normalizing relations with Turkey and will back the two protocols in parliament. The three parties represented in the coalition said in a statement that the normalization meets the interests of all political and social groups, including those of Armenians living abroad.
Ankara has made clear that it could normalize ties with Yerevan only after the Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict has been fairly settled.
The protest came as Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian met with representatives of the Armenian diaspora to muster support for signing the agreement.
Protesters held signs saying, ``Serzh, don`t betray the Armenian people`` and ``No to the Protocols!``
Prior to the community meeting, President Sarkisian`s delegation stood out on their 12th floor balcony and watched demonstrators. Sarkisian did not react and chose not to address the crowd.
Sarkisian, who previously visited Paris and New York, was also met with protests there, and additional demonstrations are planned by Armenian communities in Lebanon and Russia.
On Friday, at the start of the Armenian president`s tour of Armenian communities worldwide, demonstrators in Paris shouted ``traitor!``, decrying his plans to establish ties with Turkey.
The Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani territories and the alleged killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians under Ottoman Empire during World War I have been roadblocks for Armenia-Turkey reconciliation. Armenians have long fought to persuade other governments to consider the alleged massacres as genocide. Turkey rejects the claims.
On August 31, Turkey and Armenia said they would set aside hostilities and establish diplomatic ties. The two governments announced they would launch domestic consultations over two protocols on forging diplomatic ties and developing bilateral relations, to be followed by their ratification in the Turkish and Armenian parliaments. On October 10, Ankara and Yerevan are expected to sign the protocols. The documents ultimately seek to open the Turkish-Armenian border, which has been shut since 1993.
The normalization would favor practical concerns such as oil interests, Turkey`s EU membership bid, and relations with Russia and the United States, the Associated Press said.
Armenians in their poor, isolated homeland are more eager to open up trade and other ties with Turkey than are many in the vast Armenian diaspora, most of whom are descendants of those who escaped the alleged slaughter, the report said.
Armenians abroad - estimated at 5.7 million - outnumber the 3.2 million living in Armenia, the smallest of the former Soviet republics. The largest communities are in Russia (2 million), the United States (1.4 million), Georgia (460,000), and France (450,000), according to government data.
Meanwhile, Armenia`s ruling coalition expressed support for normalizing relations with Turkey and will back the two protocols in parliament. The three parties represented in the coalition said in a statement that the normalization meets the interests of all political and social groups, including those of Armenians living abroad.
Ankara has made clear that it could normalize ties with Yerevan only after the Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict has been fairly settled.
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