President's tour to big Armenian communities is a belated initiative considering we have less than 10 days till the ratification of Armenian-Turkish Protocols, Shahan Kandaharian, Editor-in-Chief of Beirut-based "Azdak" newspaper, told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. "President's tour can be said to have become a kind of response to Ankara's statement that Armenia should get rid of Diaspora while normalizing ties with Turkey," he said.

At that he noted that representatives of traditional Armenian parties have already expressed their views on and concerns over Protocols. "However, I don't rule out possibility that certain Armenian forces in Middle East countries will act in support of the process," Kandaharian said.

President's meeting with Armenian community representatives of Lebanon and other Middle East countries is scheduled for 7:30 Yerevan time.