Families of Kidnapped Pilgrims Urge Boycott of Turkish Products
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
The families of the kidnapped pilgrims held in Syria staged a sit-in on Friday at Beirut's Martyrs' Square to demand the release of their loved ones.
They announced that they have launched a campaign to boycott Turkish products in Lebanon, urging citizens throughout the country to support them.
They also warned that “what was taken by force, will be restored by force.”
The families explained that they kicked off their boycott campaign “because economic measures are the best means to pressure countries that claim to preserve human rights.”
“Lebanon imports a billion dollars worth of products from Turkey on an annual basis,” they added from the square amid a heavy security presence in the area.
“We decided to kick off our campaign from Martyrs' Square due to its significance as a commemoration of victims who were killed under Turkish rule over Lebanon,” they continued.
Meanwhile, Daniel Shoaib, the brother of pilgrim Abbas Shoaib, revealed: “Our actions will not end with the boycott of Turkish products.”
“Our options include staging an open-ended sit-in in front of the Turkish Embassy. Turkish officials are lying as they have made false promises to us and the Lebanese state,” he declared.
The families then distributed fliers calling for a boycott of Turkish products.
The families had prevented in recent days Syrian workers from heading to their places of employment in Beirut's southern suburbs of Dahiyeh in an attempt to pressure officials to address the case of the abducted pilgrims.
They followed up this step by closing down a number of Syrian-owned stores in the Hay al-Sellom area in Beirut, saying they will remain shut until the pilgrims are released.
Eleven Lebanese pilgrims were kidnapped in Syria's Aleppo region in May 22, 2012 as they were making their way back by land from pilgrimage in Iran.
Two of them have since been released, while the remaining nine are still being held in Syria's Aazaz area.
12 April 2013, 17:50
00
yeah im pretty sure that will work... foolish people. you shouldnt have trusted Hezbollah to protect you during your pilgrimage to Syria, go blame it on them they couldnt save you... Turkey is just protecting its border from Syria's spilling by taking side with the syrian opposition because it is clear they do not see a long term Bachar and they want to avoid his plan of creating an alawi state in northern syria and encourage the 3-4 million of alawites on southern border turkey to join! Anyway start ur boycott of " turkish " product, in dahiyeh, good luck with that...
12 April 2013, 23:46
23
gabby funny. so ok these 40 people are going to break the turkish economy. but i am still confused as to what the turkish country have to do with this? why dont they go to the syrian traitor ambassador and ask him to trade rebels for these pilgrims? how about demonstrating in front of nisrallah's hideout and ask him to apologize from the rebels so their pilgrims come home? and to top it all off, how can the government allow them to block syrians from their businesses?
