Families of Abducted Pilgrims Block Road outside Turkish Cultural Center in Beirut

The families of the nine Aazaz abductees on Monday blocked the road outside the Turkish Cultural Center in downtown Beirut to press for the release of their relatives.

Adham Zgheib, son of abducted pilgrim Ali Zgheib, told LBCI television: "Security forces were not honest with us and they let the employees of the Turkish Cultural Center continue their work."

"We dare the director of the Turkish Cultural Center to come here and we won't allow the center to continue its work," Zgheib added.

"The Turks are kidnappers and we don't want to see them until the return of our relatives," he stressed.

Asked about the severe traffic jam caused by the blocking of the road, Zgheib said: "Two employees who are still at the center are to blame for the blocking of the road and we won't reopen the road before they leave."

LBCI said citizens who were stranded on the road leading to downtown Beirut from al-Azariyeh building were expressing their frustration, noting that traffic was diverted to the seaside road.

Earlier, the relatives of the kidnapped men urged Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam to press Turkey to free the nine pilgrims.

“We are relieved concerning Salam's stance and we hope that he would be able to resolve the matter,” a delegation from the families told reporters after meeting with the PM-designate at his residence in al-Musaitbeh.

The delegation pointed out that the relatives are exerting economic pressure on Turkey and they don't justify the state's failure to follow up the case diplomatically.

“We will go ahead with our measures,” the delegation added.

On Saturday, Sheikh Abbas Zgheib, who has been tasked by the Higher Islamic Shiite Council to follow up the case of the abducted Lebanese pilgrims, called on Iran to exert efforts to free the nine men.

The relatives also staged on Saturday a sit-in near the Turkish airlines offices in al-Azariyeh building in downtown Beirut.

Eleven pilgrims were kidnapped in May 2012 in northern Syria's Aleppo province as they returned by land from a pilgrimage in Iran. Two of them were released in August and September.

They were later taken to the Aleppo town of Aazaz.

The kidnapping was claimed by a man who identified himself as Abu Ibrahim and says he is a member of the rebel Free Syrian Army, but the opposition group denies any involvement in the abductions.

On Thursday, the relatives held a sit-in in front of the French Embassy in Beirut.

They vowed in a statement to “escalate our actions and stage sit-ins in front of the embassies of all countries that support the Syrian opposition.”

Earlier this month, the relatives of the nine men vowed to target Turkish interests in Lebanon, calling on the citizens to boycott all Turkish products.

They threatened to protest near Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport and to halt inbound and outbound flights.