Conflict Incident Report

Clash at ABC Ashrafieh as Armenians protest Turkish film

Date of incident:

March 18, 2015

Death toll:

0persons

Number of Injured:

0persons

On 18 Mar 15, a fistfight erupted at the ABC mall in Ashrafieh after a number of young Lebanese Armenian men tried to stop the showing of the Turkish film Son Mektup at a Grand Cinemas movie theater. Despite the objections, the show went on as scheduled, in the presence of the Turkish ambassador, media reported. The protest was organized by the Tashnag Party, the biggest Armenian party in Lebanon, which described its move as a peaceful rally. The sit-in escalated into a stampede and a brawl between the protesters and those who came to watch the movie. Security forces arrived and locked down the mall for around an hour before managing to disperse the protesters. The Tashnag Party meanwhile issued a statement describing the film as a “new Turkish absurdity” and an attempt to “underestimate the minds of the Lebanese.”

http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/172113-clash-at-abc-ashrafieh-as-arme...

Primary category:

Brawl/Dispute

Secondary Category:

Collective Action [inc. protests, solidarity movements...]

Classification of conflict (primary):

Individual acts of violence

Violent incidents which do not have a specific or a known political agenda but are caused by the general proliferation of weapons, of trained and untrained soldiers or militants, by the general inefficiency of the Justice system, and past-traditions and histories of violence within society.

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Conflict Incident Report

Clash at ABC Ashrafieh as Armenians protest Turkish film