The BBC has a story detailing new data revealed by a human rights group on race attacks in Russia. As detailed in the local press and many blogs here, Armenians have fallen victim to such attacks although so too have other minorities from the Caucasus. Indeed, according to some sources, Russian ultra-nationalists do not differentiate between Armenian, Azerbaijani, Georgian and Chechen which is kind of ironic given the ethnic tensions here.

Sova says 38 people have been murdered in racist killings so far this year, and well over 300 people have been injured, mainly in stabbings.

According to its figures, the most common victims of racist killings are from the Caucasus and Central Asia.

It also warns that Russia’s skinheads have begun targeting other minorities, including homosexuals.

Sova says that Moscow, St Petersburg and Russia’s fourth city - Nizhniy Novgorod - are the leaders in racist attacks.

It says 24 people have died in Moscow alone this year as a result of racially motivated killings by what it terms “skinheads”.

The word “skinhead” in Russia implies something much more than appearance.

It is the generic term given to the country’s ultra-right activists, who continue to form organisations and carry out attacks with what anti-racism groups say is impunity.

Sova estimates there are more than 60,000 skinheads in Russia.

It says its figures suggest the toll of racist attacks is increasing, but prosecutors remain reluctant to attribute racial motivation to killings of ethnic minorities.

Instead, they often put them down to simple “hooliganism”.

Campaigners say this is because the authorities have traditionally turned a blind eye to racist killings, and used nationalism as a political weapon.

Furthermore, a substantial proportion of ordinary Russians voice opinions that would be criminally racist in many European countries.

The full article is here, and all of this is just one reason why many of us are concerned by the appearance of neo-Nazi slogans and emblems here. Yes, Armenia and some other CIS republics are simply years behind in following similar trends in Russia, but we can definitely do without this one, I think.

Vernisage, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2007

The sight of swastika graffiti daubed onto walls in central Yerevan is not new, and a few of us have spent time cleaning it off only for it to reappear later, but the number of racist slogans and emblems to be seen at the height of tourism season is now excessive to say the least. These photos, for example, were taken yesterday at just one part of Yerevan’s vernisage.

What is becoming more alarming, however, is the rise of ultra-nationalism in Armenia. It’s thankfully a pitifully small number of Armenians, but even so in a country that’s virtually mono-ethnic it’s staggering to see slogans such as “Armenia for Armenians” and “We don’t want Niggers” appear in very public locations for all to see. It’s astounding that the municipality isn’t alarmed either and doesn’t seem to care enough about the image of the city to clean them off, but anyway.

Even my recent photo story on the pagan Vardavar in Garni for EurasiaNet which was attended by Armen Avetisyan, the controversial leader of the Union of Armenian Aryans, drew a response from one reader who sent me the following email which just really has to raise more concerns about racism and anti-semetism not only in the Diaspora, but also here in Armenia.

Recently I have been reading some of your articles such as:
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav072707.shtml
There in the middle you have a link ” At the Garni Vardavar observances, one of the highest-profile attendees was Armen Avetisian, controversial leader of the ultra-nationalist Union of Armenian Aryans, who received a three-year suspended sentence in 2005 for inciting racial hatred against Jews. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. ”

Do you think you could have the courage to speak the truth one day about the true originators of the armenian genocide as did a Mr.Christopher Jon Bjerknes in his book “THE JEWISH GENOCIDE OF ARMENIAN CHRSTIANS”
(http://jewishracism.com/JewishGenocide.htm)

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While the Diaspora and nationalist parties turn their attention to the rise of ultra-nationalism in Turkey, increasing racially motivated violence against Armenians and other nationalities in Russia continues to be ignored even by those parties that say they will protest the killing of Armenians anywhere.

“The Armenian youth can never put up with the terrorist acts against any Armenian in any country. The murders of Gourgen Margaryan and Hrant Dink tell us one thing: Turkey is still not ready for constructive dialogue with Armenia”, said Abraham Gasparyan, member of “Nikol Aghbalyan” youth union.

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Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic Square, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2006

Welcome to another round up of posts from the Armenian blogosphere, and this week is another of those rare occasions — a number of bloggers dealing with the same theme. Interestingly, this week that theme was racism and xenophobia, both at home and abroad.

To start the ball rolling, on Friday there was a demonstration staged outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Yerevan to protest the deaths of ethnic Armenians in Russia. Akhtamar at Armyouth has an interesting post detailing her thoughts in the aftermath of the demo.

It seems as though there is SOME hope after all in regards to the youth and trying to make some changes in Armenia. While I had received some indifferent attitudes from youth who were simply passersby and refused to sign the letter, there were these young activists who stayed up until 5am the day before to make these posters.

There are times when I think that the young Armenian population is so cynical and they feel as though they do not belong to this society. “Ahh, what does it matter if I litter this bag, it’s not MY street anyway.” Or “this country has no future, the only thing I can do is leave” – these are things I hear practically everyday from so many young people. And this is a rather prevalent attitude throughout the country.

Yet there is a flipside to this as well. A small, warm and increasing movement of interested young people is seeking to take their future into their own hands. These are some of the activists you see in these photos. They see that what is happening in their country is not right and they want to do something about it.

This IS the hope for Armenia.

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Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic Square, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2006

As mentioned in the last post, there was another demonstration staged in Yerevan to protest racist attacks on ethnic Armenians in Russia. The action followed a similar intiative staged outside the Russian Embassy in June and recent tragic news that a 15-year-old fell victim to skinheads in Moscow at the weekend.

Coincidently, a press conference was also held in Yerevan this week on the same issue. Armenia Now has more.

A teenage boy has become the latest casualty in a long-running series of crimes against Armenians (and other non-Russians) perpetrated by organized gangs believed to be inspired by fascist ideology.

Narek Kocharyan, 15, was beaten and stabbed to death in the settlement of Ivanteyevka in the Moscow region last Saturday (November 11).

“We believe this is an offense of special severity, doubtlessly, a group crime racially motivated,” said Simon Tsaturyan, the lawyer representing the Union of Armenians of Russia in an interview to Radio Liberty. Tsaturyan said a scarf “with fascist symbols” was found at the crime scene.

The teenager’s death brings to at least 14 race-related deaths, of which 6 were Armenian.

[…]

“One can’t state directly that the organizer of such murders and cruelties is the state. But noticeably the killings are sponsored by some structures,” says Avetik Ishkhanyan, the chairman of the Helsinki Committee of Armenia.

Hranush Kharatyan, the head of the agency for ethnic minorities and religious issues under the government of the Republic of Armenia charges that Russian authorities tolerate racism.

“The atmosphere in Russia is heated up now. The disclosure of the killings is either avoided or delayed. It’s a part of a political program,” says Kharatyan. “I doubt if letters, whether closed or open, or the meetings will help, if Russia has decided to exterminate Armenians. Racism is a very serious problem and it will not suffice with Armenians alone.”

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Global Voices has a digest of posts and comments about the treatment of ethnic Georgians in Russia following the recent spy scandal in Tbilisi and the blockade of Georgia — and indirectly Armenia — by Russia.

Blogger Sukhumi has been following the coverage of the persecution of Georgians in Russia (previous Global Voices posts are here and here). He writes (RUS):

On the TV channel “Imedi” I saw a demonstration in St. Petersburg against the persecution of Georgians. To my delight, I caught sight of my friend Valiko. I am very grateful that, unafraid of the consequences, she took to the streets and made her stand as a citizen. It’s in times like this that you learn who is a real person, and who is just an empty shell.

But most of the news is bad. It seems even sport is becoming politicised. The ‘Kremlin Cup’ tennis tournament, Sukhumi writes, has just been won by ethnic Georgian Anna Chakvetadze - in the face of a crowd shouting taunts like “Georgians go to Georgia!”. And another Georgian sports star has fled Russia:

Yesterday Elena Gedevanishvili returned to Tbilisi. She is a Georgian figure-skater, trained in Moscow, who has won sixth place at the Winter Olympics. Her parents were deported from Russia on the first plane; Elena herself went [first] to Vienna, where she won some big competition…

Of course, racism in Russia is not just confined to Georgians. As the Global Voices digest points out it concerns everyone from the South Caucasus and Central Asia, including Armenians. The Global Voices post is here.

Embassy of the Russian Federation, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online 2006

Until recently, Nessuna at the now defunct di cavoli e di re was posting some excellent and very poignant coverage of an increase in attacks on people from the South Caucasus and Central Asia in Russia. Now, according to PanArmenian.net, the simmering tension between Armenians in particular and Russian nationalists appears ready to explode. Indeed, an escalation in violence has already occurred.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ 1 person is killed and several are in reanimation resulting from a mass fight in Volsk town. Reports on the occurrence are very contradictory. According to some, two young persons quarreled with Armenian Diaspora representatives at Galaktika local club. Over 10 took part in a fight. By the time the police arrived, there were three wounded, one of them later died.

There are no official reports. It is known that many re-settlers from southern republics live in Volsk. The Prosecutor’s Office confirmed there was a fight, but nothing similar to the events in Kondopog – the conflict was an ordinary one. The situation in the town is normal now. The police works in an intense regime.

Meanwhile, law-enforcement bodies do not confirm media reports on disorders in Volsk. “The situation in the town is normal,” stated person on operative duty of the Department of Internal affairs of Volsk, Russian media report.

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For such a predominently mono-ethnic country, it’s interesting to note that there are some signs that racism is on the increase. Nessuna at di cavoli e di re recently posted about some white supremacist leaflets she noticed in Yerevan, for example, and from my own experience, many locals — as well as some Diasporans — openly express their dislike of Yezidis and Jews.

However, the Institute of War & Peace Reporting (IWPR) has an interesting story on how such attitudes are amplified when the colour of someone’s skin becomes part of the story. They say that love is colour-blind, but that’s still not generally accepted in Armenian society.

“I bring up my children in the spirit of Christianity and I tell them that all people are equal, regardless of the colour of their skin and their faith,” said Anna, who lives in Yerevan with her Nigerian husband Michael and their two small sons Joseph and James.

The two dark-skinned boys do suffer racial abuse in their kindergarten or on public transport. “I just get furious when they call my children ‘negroes’,” she said.

“I don’t feel comfortable in Yerevan,” added Michael, who despite owning his own business, an Internet café, wants to take his family away from Armenia to a more multi-racial society.

Despite living in Armenia for nine years, Michael has not integrated well and speaks only a few phrases of Armenian.

Michael and Anna’s was the first marriage officially registered between an African and an Armenian, more than ten years ago and it is still a very rare case in Armenia.

[…]

“I think any of our women who marry blacks are our enemies,” said a middle-aged man with higher education questioned by IWPR on the street in Yerevan. “Armenian blood should not be mix with the blood of blacks. If you marry a foreigner then he should at least be white.”

His view was typical of many ordinary Armenians asked to comment on the issue.

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As some circles attempt to limit concerns about the increasing number of attacks on Armenians in Russia, Zarchka at Life Around Me says that they continue to occur. One of the attacks was on popular Russian singer Jasmine although somewhat ironically, although her attackers identified her as an ethnic Armenian, she apparently denies this. Nevertheless, she does look Armenian, and many still believe that her name is actually Hasmik.

On Tuesday the emergency service received the call from the settlement Zhukovka. The doctors arrived to the place found there the well-known singer, whom at first they could not recognize because of the numerous abrasions on her face.

The girl was taken to the hospital, where after examination she was diagnosed to have closed craniocerebral injury, the break of the back of nose, plural hematomas and asthenic syndrome. The singer was in the deep psychological shock.

Jasmine told to the doctors that she had been beaten for two days; however, she refused to talk to the journalists. After rendering the first aid to the singer, the physicians sent telephone message into the militia, since, judging by the nature of injuries, they could have criminal origin. At the present moment the police conduct investigation on the fact of causing serious damages, criminal case is not filed so far.

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Nessuna has an interesting post on a new ad created by Armenia’s Radio Van that aims to raise awareness throughout the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) about the increasing number of attacks on Armenians living and working in Russia. She also includes a translation of the ad from Russian into English.

“I’m Khachatur… Khachatur Vardanyan. Mom used to call me Khachik. I was named so after my grandpa whom I never saw; he died in ‘42 defending Moscow. And I died in 2006… in Moscow.

For the last 10 years thousands of Armenians have been killed in Russia.

What is it? A war?

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Embassy of the Russian Federation, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online 2006

On 5 June 2006 a few dozen young Armenians and representatives of Civil Society assembled outside the Russian Embassy in Yerevan to protest against an unprecedented number of attacks against Armenians and other nationalities in Russia. It was also encouraging to see a number of Armenian-Americans also turning out, although it has to be said that the police and security at the Embassy acted like jerks.

Anyway, after handing in a petition and distributing leaflets that also criticized the Russian authorities for failing to take action against those nationalist and racist groups believed to be responsible for the attacks, the protestors then marched to stage a demonstration outside the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Armenia. Thanks to Nessuna for informing me about today’s action.

The text of the leaflets handed out read as follows:

Statement

The repeated occurrence of virulent racism and xenophobia in Russia in recent years is of great concern. In 2005 alone, 28 persons from ethnic groups other than Russian were murdered and another 402 such persons were assaulted and battered by racist groups. Targeted predominantly are persons who come from the Caucasus and Central Asia, with Armenians constituting a large number among those. Nationalist groups make anti-Armenian pronouncements. They committed ethnic hostility-motivated murders of six young Armenian young men in 2006 in Moscow alone. Yevgeny Baghdasarian, Hayk Dolukhanian, Harutiun Galstian, Robert Feroyan and Vigen Abrahamiants were among their victims as was Arthur Sardarian, the most recent victim murdered on May 25.

The fact that racist and fascist groups operate in an unimpeded fashion and that criminal acts and murders go for the most part unpunished gives grounds to believe that the said groups operate under the patronage of certain State structures of the Russian Federation. We, the representatives of the Armenian non-governmental organizations and the citizens of Armenia, condemn strongly the actions of the racist group raging in Russia and inadequate steps taken with respect to them and demand that the Russian Federation authorities should take prompt action to detain the murderers and bring them to justice.

Helsinki Committee of Armenia, NGO
For Science Development Initiative Group
Collaboration for Democracy, NGO
Free Forum for Civil Initiatives, NGO
Legal Center Forum, NGO
Citadel, NGO
Hope, NGO
Student Council of American University of Armenia
Yeritac Youth, NGO
World Independent Youth Union, NGO

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