As I was recently attacked for not writing about the murder of an ethnic Armenian in Moscow at a time when I had no time to do anything other than my work in Yerevan, maybe it’s time to highlight what the Armenian press is saying on the matter.

“Aravot” condemns as “odd and outrageous” the failure by the Armenian embassy in Russia to react to the weekend killing of an ethnic Armenian teenager in Moscow. The paper says that neither Ambassador Armen Smbatian nor his Russian opposite number in Yerevan have expressed sympathy to the family of the 17-year-old Vahan Abrahamiants. “Also silent are those Armenian political and public organizations that react very sharply and promptly to attacks on ethnic Armenians in any other country of the world, including Georgia. It is not clear whether this is the result of the Armenians’ inferiority complex vis-à-vis the Russians or other motives such as a slave mentality or unwillingness to pour scorn on [Armenia’s] strategic ally.”

Actually, the attack seems to have preoccupied most of the Armenian newspapers and RFE/RL’s press review has a comprehensive round up of what they’re saying. Really, I’m impressed because Armenians generally only concern themselves with such incidents when they can be used to attack “enemies” such as Georgia, and not “allies” such as Russia.

“One gets the impression that the Russians and especially their not highest class instinctively feel that something is wrong with them and that they are losing their national self-consciousness and waning g moral stature,” writes “Azg.” The paper says the Russians respond to that loss by adopting the “most primitive, most predatory way of struggle.”

[…]

Commenting on the subject, a senior member of the opposition Hanrapetutyun (Republic) party, Suren Sureniants, tells “Aravot” that it would be naïve to expect President Vladimir Putin to protect ethnic minorities because his regime fails to respect even the basic civil rights of ethnic Russians. “What is happening in Putin’s Russia is natural because that country has long deviated from democracy, while its authorities are guided by imperial ambitions,” says Sureniants. He claims that the authorities in Yerevan remain silent on the continuing killings of Armenians in Russia because they have turned their country into a Russian province.

“The Armenian authorities are subservient [to Russian] to such an extent that they are even scared of defending the interests and rights of their citizens and compatriots in the territory of supposed ally Russia lest the Russians treat us badly,” writes “Chorrord Ishkhanutyun.” “It’s about time we adopted a bit more dignified stance and asked the Russian authorities, ‘If you can not ensure the security of our compatriots, declare it so that we could urge our citizens not to travel to Russia.’”

“Taregir” reports that Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamlet Gasparian is ambiguous in presenting Yerevan’s official reaction to the latest Moscow killing. Asked “How many Armenians need to be killed in Russia in order to prompt a reaction [from Yerevan?],” Gasparian replies, “Such cases are at the center of our attention and of concern to us. Our embassy does keep in touch with relevant Russian services on a daily basis.”

“Hayots Ashkhar” says Moscow prosecutors are now effectively denying that Abrahamiants’s killing was racially motivated. They have suggested that the killing resulted from a dispute over a young woman. “Unfortunately, all the signs are that killings of and attacks on foreigners in Russia will continue,” writes the hitherto pro-Russian paper. It points the fact that a group of Russian skinheads who stabbed to death a 9-year-old Tajik girl in Saint-Petersburg were effectively acquitted by a Russian court last month. “In effect, [Russian] fascists were openly told, ‘Do whatever you want. You won’t get any punishment.’”

According to “Haykakan Zhamanak,” the criminal investigation into the Armenian teenager’s fatal stabbing in a Moscow underground station is little more than a cover-up. “Everything is being done to move what happened to a social plane,” says the paper.

Actually, we should be concerned with racism towards anyone and everyone wherever they are, including any attacks on minorities in Armenia. This also includes the way Yerevan State Medical University treats its foreign students.