More Than 12,000 Protest the Protocols in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES, CA – More than 12,000 Armenian Americans from throughout California converged on the Beverly Hilton Hotel to protest the
Turkey-Armenia protocols as Armenia President Serzh Sarkisian met with representatives of Armenian American organizations to defend his
decision to sign the flawed documents.

Blockades and guardrails contained protesters who held signs proclaiming, “Serzh Don’t Betray the Armenian People,” “Turkey Accept
the Genocide!” and “No to the Protocols!” Meanwhile, planes overhead were carrying banners which stated “Stop Turkish-Armenian Protocols,” as large moving vans drove around the hotel with billboards picturing presidents Sarkisian and Gul with the slogan “Don’t Betray us.” Prior to the beginning of the community meeting, Pres. Sarkisian’s delegation stood out on their 12th floor balcony and watched demonstrators, who called out in hopes that the President would address them directly. Pres. Sarkisian chose not to address the people.

During the fourth hour of the protest, several hundred frustrated demonstrators broke through the barricades and stormed across the
street to the hotel entrance, yelling “votch, votch,” stopping traffic on Wilshire Blvd. Meanwhile ARF Western Region Central Committee member Hovan Tashdjian, who had just left the meeting with the President, who had just left the meeting, described a tense Pres. Sarkisian faced with overwhelming opposition by representatives of Diasporan organizations, attempting to defend the formation of a so-called “historical commission” and arguing that the Protocols would not affect the Karabakh peace process.

Pres. Sarkisian has embarked on a Diasporan junket to gain support for the beleaguered Turkey-Armenia Protocols, which have met with
resounding rebuke by Armenians around the world. He has been met with protests in Paris, New York and Los Angeles, with additional
demonstrations planned in Lebanon and Russia.

For more information on the campaign against the protocols visit, http://stoptheprotocols.com

video coverage from the protest, watch www.horizonarmeniantv.com and check the youtube posts by the Armenian Youth Federation Western Region at www.youtube.com/armenianyouthfederat.

You can also follow the protests on twitter at www.twitter.com/asbarez and www.twitter.com/ayfwest

Full coverage of the Sarkisian meeting and the protests will be posted on Asbarez.com and www.stoptheprotocols.com

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