Comments on: Another Anti-Racism Protest in Yerevan

by: BORAAATINHO

Mon, 16 Apr 2007 16:23:12 +0100

if you comprea rmoscow to other Europina countries it has dramaticly declined economicly and mentally. I lived in Moscow for 3 years, styding in 000 school, when I cam to Oxford I ahve realized how different moscow is, hte peopleand relationship between them. My family lives in moscow now and I am really sceared and wored about them. I will do anything but to bging them to London.

by: High Arordi

Fri, 09 Feb 2007 12:55:23 +0000

Yethe Rusakan racistneri dem eq cuyc anum uremn sheshteq, Hay Racistneri het inch gorc uneq? Haykakan rasistakan sharzhumn amenic araj rus srikaneri dem e handes galis, qani vor nranq III Reichi veh simvolner@ ogtagorcum en Ariakan Hay azgi dem yerb henc irenq mec masamb handisanum en tatarakan arshavanqneri hetevanqov arajacac mutant azg…erevi te verevi nkarneri nkarox@
uzetsela asel hayastan@ hayerin! ajl voch te arabnerin(arab usanoghnerin),voronk sparnum en mer azgi genetikakan anvtangutjan@,

by: Concious Armenian

Fri, 02 Feb 2007 23:23:53 +0000

People who like to see Armenian girls getting married with arabs are our enemies, especially Europeans that ruined their countries with interracial marriages and now they try “teach” that science to our nation.
Russian skinheads are tatar mongols controlled by jews…

by: leo matousian

Fri, 02 Feb 2007 20:59:32 +0000

[quote=]leo_matousian is an idiot. He posts on Stormfront, which is one of the stupidest websites on the entire internet.
[/quote]

how impressive *g*

by: patrick

Sat, 27 Jan 2007 19:13:10 +0000

leo_matousian is an idiot. He posts on Stormfront, which is one of the stupidest websites on the entire internet.

by: Karl G. Mund

Sun, 14 Jan 2007 21:56:40 +0000

For people in Europe who have been sympathetic to the cause of the Armenian people, like me e.g., it is deplorably saddening to read utterly fascist commentaries like that by leo matousian, posted here December 21,2006. Doesn’t Armenia have already enough problems?

by: leo matousian

Thu, 21 Dec 2006 22:30:26 +0000

no arabs means
that we dont want arab sub-humans in our country

armenia is for armenians.
these arabs are causing lots of troubles to europe and armenia.
not to mention they never miss any chance to bash our girls.

arabs get benefitted from armenians that live in arabia countries.

while we dont see anything except violence,rap murders and problems.

WE WANT THEM OUT.

the storry of russia skinheads must be good example for us to what happen
if there will be lots of arabs in armenia.

by: kadeja

Wed, 22 Nov 2006 01:53:24 +0000

when armenians write NO ARABS !!! does this mean they have to clear the whole arabs of arab countries where milions of armenians live?? just cuz armenians cant live with arab?
or does this sugest that after the armenian who is alive in a way or another because arabs and moslems save them and now as they can visit yerevan city they want to say we dont want to see arabs here ! or is it another way to make money to stand in the raw of the countires that make money by supporting the american policy against arab across the world? well in arab countries there are kurds, armenians , chichin , turkmen and other ppl who all live and no matter what ur gangs write or say on ur walls , that not going to make of us any racists. and u have to live with the fact that u r making living from trading the ppl who supported u and still. just cuz u think this can be profitable.

by: simon

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 18:10:29 +0000

spending a long term living in Armenia that was a great experience through which i gained best friends and had the chance to meet a woman i love much. and from my personal point of view and i am sure lot support it i can say that the Armenians of Armenia have nothing to do with racism, and it is hard to manipulate them to go that way. the whole matter comes from teh diaspora law profile ppl who treat armenian as a lost paradise and try to turn it into gheto against the surounding communities in which-in fact- they have been living in for generations where they sheltered from the genocide and these countries are middle eastern - lebanon, syria, egypt, iran- then comes those who were so proud during the 90th to tell everyone that ARMENIAN MAFIA in russia is the strongest and most respected!!!!!!! as we understand that diaspora land is under the turkish ocupation and as we understand that these diaspora suffer ID conflect but these must not be convied to the armenian peaceful socity. cuz it is very wise to think of couple of million of armenias still sharing the others land and air and work and taking these into concederation can save alot of good future for every mankind who live on these earth in condetions he himself may wount chose if could.
Armenians may should watch for the Armenia and yerevan before the diaspora erritated mentality screw the whole things up.
discussing the whole topic must start from reading the armenian context fully before telling whre is the problem and how to fix it
my sincere regards and loyality to the whole nice ppl i met and wellcomed me and any other no matter what the passport he can tempt with or the visa he can deliver.

by: Onnik

Mon, 20 Nov 2006 14:33:40 +0000

Thomas Seropian from Follow The Way has now posted an update on the latest cleanup of swastikas nr Republic Square with accompanying photos.

by: Onnik

Sat, 18 Nov 2006 16:19:29 +0000

Forgot to say that other bloggers were in attendance. Akhtamar from Armyouth was obviously there, as was Zarchka from Life Around Me and Anoush from the Armenian Volunteer Corps blog and Anoush Armenia. I would have posted some pics of Zarchka at the demo, but she’s banned me from doing so. Pity. Although I know I’m likely to get hit for this later, she’s also another politically active, attractive and intelligent young woman.

As for the media, I’m told Shant TV was there, but apparently no H1, Armenia TV, Yerkir etc. I’m also told that A1 Plus had a reporter present as did Armenia Liberty, obviously. Isabella says she sent invitations to all the media outlets, she said, and I sent some alerts to others such as Armenia Now who didn’t show up although they did cover the press conference earlier in the week. There was at least one other journalist there, although I’d personally like to say that I’m tired of police trying to prevent photographers from doing their job.

One policeman told me that it was illegal to take a photo of any scene with them in, which is nonsense because I’ve raised this issue with the Media people at the MFA. When told this the policeman then contradicted himself and said that “oh, sure, it’s not illegal, but it is illegal if you take a photo quite close.” Actually, I ignore these statements and continue to do my job because they’re not going to arrest a foreign journalist when they’re making up the law on the spot or still living in the Soviet era.

However, you can now understand why there are concerns with the types of reporting coming out of Armenia. For a local journalist, activist or demonstration participant the “law” is made up virtually on the spot, and it’s why unless you know your rights and are prepared to stand your ground, little is achieved in terms of bringing certain issues to the public’s attention.

Interestingly, however, the media turnout for this event was insignificant compared to the event outside the Russian Foreign Ministry in June. Not sure why — a genuine lack of interest, or political reasons. As we all know, with the newspapers and TV stations controlled by political forces and the online media generally influenced by whoever funds them openly or behind closed doors, what makes it into our newspapers or onto the screens of our televisions and computers isn’t really governed by the need to inform the population.

Self-censorship for perceived political or economic reasons linked to the interests of those that finance ALL the media outlets in Armenia are really a problem here and that has to change. For one, if it’s not law already I think that all media outlets should be made to reveal the names of those that finance them, and any “commissioned” articles be identified as such. Incidently, this is as much a problem in the opposition and “independent” media as in those outlets controlled by the State.

All that said, perhaps the one media outlet I rely on the most is also one of those often accused of having an agenda in Armenia. For sure its establishment served a purpose during the Cold War, and probably still does now, but it’s news from Armenia can’t be beat. I personally recommend everyone interested in Armenian news to access RFE/RL’s Armenia Liberty site every week day.

by: Zarchka

Sat, 18 Nov 2006 15:51:08 +0000

Thanks to those who organized this protest. Although few people appeared, at least the message was passed and the passer-bys, some of who hadn’t even heard about the murders now know more. We must never keep silence to announce the truth and demand justice with the fear that someone can punish us. Incidentally I was told that many TVs were said about this action, but I saw only one appeared. ????????? Other more important things were to do??
Anyways. Well done! Let’s hope that things can be changed by those little steps.

by: Onnik

Sat, 18 Nov 2006 02:28:06 +0000

I can well believe it, and that was part of the point. In recent years protest demonstrations have been typified by people over the age of 45, and mostly male. Finally, we’re starting to get back to a situation last seen in 1996 when young Armenians with a stake in the future of the country are becoming active. Unfortunately, they’re still an insignificant minority of the population, but at least it’s a start.

by: Katy

Sat, 18 Nov 2006 01:59:32 +0000

Bella Sargsyan is a good friend of mine from London/Yerevan. I was about to ID her in your photos, but looks like you already did. She is much more than just a pretty face.

by: Onnik

Fri, 17 Nov 2006 23:02:32 +0000

RFE/RL now has a story on today’s protest although I think it’s fair to say that there reference to dozen young men is wrong or a typo. In fact, it was quite an even split between male and female, perhaps even with the latter in the majority.

YOUTHS CALL FOR ACTION TO STOP KILLINGS OF ETHNIC ARMENIANS IN RUSSIA

By Astghik Bedevian

About three dozen young men gathered near the Armenian Foreign Ministry building on Friday to denounce the recent killings of ethnic Armenians in Russia and call for Yerevan’s official response to what they believe to be crimes committed on ethnic grounds.

They said their previous protest actions near the Russian Embassy in Yerevan were followed by more murders of ethnic Armenians in Russia with clearly ethnic motives that they said had been covered up by Russian law officials as hooligan actions.

This time around the young activists addressed their appeal to Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian.

“The Year of Armenia in Russia is being accompanied with brutal murders of young Armenians,” a letter addressed to Oskanian reads. “We are full of grief and anger with the criminal inaction under the pretext of the so-called complementary policy.”

The letter was originally signed by nine activists. About 200 passers-by also joined in the demand by putting their signatures to the appeal.

One of the activists, Izabela Sarkisian, cited statistics according to which some 3,000 Armenians have been murdered in Russia in the past ten years. “All those murdered are qualified as hooliganism and not as murders on racist grounds. We call for Armenia’s clear stance on this matter,” she told RFE/RL. “We believe that under the constitution the Republic of Armenia has the obligation to take care of its every citizen and do everything for our compatriots to feel more secure in foreign countries.”

Head of the Ministry’s Russia Division Marina Balayan accepted the letter from the protestors and promised them to forward it to Minister Oskanian.

Incidently, the rather attractive young woman speaking to the policeman and a journalist in the photos above is Izabela Sarkisian. If the babe theory of political movements is anything to go by, Armenia is progressing on that front at least.