(9 Oct 2009) AP TELEVISION
1. Wide of protest rally
2. Mid of sign reading (Armenian) 'No To Protocols! President, Don't Give In!'
3. Wide of demonstrators holding up banners
4. Mid of police on guard
5.SOUNDBITE (Armenian) Armen Rustamyan, Dashnak Tsutyun party member of Parliament:
"This protest action is aimed at preventing the signing of the protocols. It will have a long-lasting effect. We have already been carrying out such actions for a month, with hunger strike and sit-ins, in the course of which we inform the people who are not aware of them. Many of these people seem to think that we are against any relations with Turkey. Not at all. In reality, we are just not ready to pay the price we are demanded to pay."
6. Protesters marching
7.SOUNDBITE (English) Vahan Hovanissyan, Dashnak Tsutyun party member of Parliament:
"The international recognition of the Armenian genocide will be hindered by this signature, or ratification. And... we are compelled by them, they force us, to make de facto existing border as the Europe border, which is not the case, because this border is the result of Turkish bolshevik aggression on Armenia. "
8. Various of demonstrators at rally
9. Various of demonstrators marching towards the Armenian Genocide monument and museum complex
STORYLINE:
More than ten thousand protesters marched in the streets of Yerevan on Friday to voice their opposition against the planned signing of a landmark agreement to finally normalise diplomatic ties between Armenia and Turkey, after a century of enmity.
Foreign ministers of both countries are expected to sign the deal this weekend in Switzerland, which has hosted six weeks of talks between the neighbours.
The protocols to be signed by the two countries say Turkey and Armenia will recognise their mutual frontiers and calls for the opening of the sealed border within two months.
However opponents from both sides have vowed to do all they can to stop the process.
Friday's protest in the Armenian capital was one of a series of event organised and led by the opposition Dashnak Tsutyun party.
"We have already been carrying out such actions for a month, with hunger strike and sit-ins," opposition party member Armen Rustamyan said on Friday.
Even if it is signed over the weekend, some vague wording in the agreement could merely set the stage for further talks, and it could be prone to interpretation or dispute even if the two parliaments ratify the agreement as expected.
The contentious issue of whether the killing of up to 1.5 (m) million Armenians during the final days of the Ottoman Empire amounted to genocide is only hinted at in the agreement, which calls for diplomatic ties for the first time and the opening of the sealed border within two months.
A number of independent historians have termed the killings the first genocide of the 20th century.
The contentious issue however is only hinted at in the agreement.
It calls for a panel to discuss "the historical dimension" that will include "an impartial scientific examination of the historical records and archives to define existing problems and formulate recommendations."
That clause is viewed as a concession to Turkey who have denied the genocide claims, contending the toll is inflated and those killed were victims of civil war.
"The international recognition of the Armenian genocide will be hindered by this signature, or ratification," Dashnak Tsutyun party member Vahan Hovanissyan said at the rally.
Another source of dispute is Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave in Azerbaijan that is occupied by Armenian troops.
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