A crowd estimated at more than 12,000 gathered outside the Beverley Hills Hilton in Los Angeles yesterday to protest the visit of RoA President Serzh Sargsyan and the Armenian-Turkish protocols he says he will soon sign. The crowd was a healthy mix of a cross section of the local Armenian community – students, clergy members, young and old alike. Equipped with signs and banners calling on President Sargsyan not to sign the protocols, the boisterous protestors took up positions opposite the hotel for some four hours. One particular banner with the words "Do Not Betray" displayed a photo of a smiling Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Armenian President Sargsyan shaking hands. There was a heavy police presence on hand to keep the protestors from crossing the street and gaining access to the hotel where the president was scheduled to meet with 52 representatives of the community around 4 p.m. Reports indicate that many of those invited included prominent Armenian businessmen. President Sargsyan, just as he had done in Paris and New York, attempted to assuage the concerns of those at the meeting that the protocols did not threaten the just demands of the Armenian people; especially in terms of Genocide recognition and reparations from Turkey. Despite these assurances, community representatives politely but forcefully argued the opposite; that the protocols included a number of points detrimental to Armenian national interests. At around 6:30 p.m. ARF Western Central Committee member Yovan Tashjian left the meeting and addressed the assemble crowd and urged the Armenian president to put a halt to the negotiations with Turkey. The protestors cheered this demand and then started to sing the national anthem of Armenia, "Mer Hairenik". (Information provided by the Public Affairs Office of the ARF U.S. Western Central Committee)