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

Over two weeks ago I posted some photographs taken of racist, fascist and anti-semitic graffiti on Yerevan’s Vernisage. A day later, Tirami Su posted some more and so one would hope that something might have been done about this eyesore by now. This is especially the case given that the main government buildings are situated close by as well as the fact that most tourists will also get to see the slogans and emblems when they shop for souvenirs on the weekend.

However, there has been no action by the Kentron district or the Yerevan Mayor’s Office to clean off the graffiti as this photo taken with my mobile phone earlier this evening shows. The sooner we have an elected Mayor in this city, as well as a municipality that actually does its job, the better. On the other hand, maybe such feelings truly represent the mood of a country which is hardly ready for closer integration with Europe even if there was such an inclination among the population.

Following on from news that two basketball games erupted into violence between the teams playing, Lragir has an interesting commentary on what some of us accept and recognize from living in Armenia and various communities worldwide and what others do not. That is, there is considerable friction between communities in the Diaspora as well as between locals and foreign-born Armenians in Armenia itself.

Ironically, however, the paper commends the Yerevan basketball team for attacking its counterpart from Cairo during this week’s Pan-Armenian Games although there’s a twist to the story.

The Pan-Armenian games truly unite the Armenians worldwide with such a force that this unification often causes a clash. For instance, the basketball teams of Yerevan and Cairo united with such a force that some Cairo sportsmen were taken to hospital with injuries. Meanwhile, the team of Yerevan was disqualified for beating the Armenian basketball players of Cairo. It goes without saying that it happened during the game, the Pan-Armenian Games.

The players of Yerevan were disqualified whereas they should be encouraged. Not for the beating, of course. Beating has become part of the routine of Armenians. […] the most outstanding pages of 16 years of our independent history involve beating: reporters are beaten, political figures are beaten, the children of officials beat innocent citizens and foreigners, the government beats peaceful protestors, the bodyguards of oligarchs beat drivers for overtaking, even an officer of national security. So why should the basketball team of Cairo be an exception?

The basketball team of Yerevan should be encouraged for honesty and not the beating. They behaved honestly, and did not surrender to the lyrical digressions of the Pan-Armenian Games, the idea of unity, the tear-jerking pronouncements about their exceptional importance, Armenians are brothers, and other fleshless lyrics. The basketball team of Yerevan displayed an attitude which exists in the real life of Armenians, especially regarding the relation of Armenians of Armenia and the Diaspora. They had the courage and did not try to hide it, even though guns are made silent during the Olympics. First of all, a fist is not a gun. Besides, the Pan-Armenian Games are not Olympics. More especially it is not a theater where one has to demonstrate his love for a Diasporan brother. Officially, the basketball team of Yerevan upset this theater but in reality it did a great favor for both Armenia and the Diaspora. Perhaps this incident will make the apologists of Pan-Armenian ideas reflect on the real life and not the vision. Meanwhile, the real life is the major culture gap between the Armenians of Armenia and the Diaspora, which sometimes mounts to controversies. It is enough to visit any Armenian university where there are Diasporan students and ask them how the other students treat them for their behavior, clothes, hair. Therefore, besides and before holding events which resemble Pan-Armenian manifestations it is necessary to think about real efforts to overcome this problem. The Pan-Armenian events are not helpful to overcoming these controversies, and the evidence to this is that the scandal occurs during the fourth and not the first Pan-Armenian Games.

The organizers might say it shows the games work, and there is real competition. They will say so to shut an eye on the problem because it takes great effort to solve this problem, it takes a lively and practical idea uniting the Armenians of Armenia and the Diaspora which will affect the life and work of every Armenian. Meanwhile, it takes only money to hold the Pan-Armenian Games, which can be raised. After all, this is not a problem for the tiger any more. Besides, all the sides of the Fatherland should be shown to the Diasporans, not only the sights but also the hospitals.

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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.

Panorama carries an interesting news item on what we all know, but few of us mention without fear of criticism from those who believe that Armenians are and should be all the same. According to the report, approximately 3,000 Armenians from the Diaspora study in Armenia and many experience problems with local youth. The problems usually stem from a profound difference in mentality and lifestyle.

Taking into consideration these differences, youth-student organization Tkhruni of Social-democratic Party Hnchakian issued a statement together of youth organization “Nikol Aghbalyan” of Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnakcutiun) saying “difference in mentality of the youth from Armenia and the Diaspora causes difficult relations and conflicts.” In a discussion at Pastark on October 3 the participants urged respective state structures to deal with the problems of Diaspora youth. The appeal was particularly addressed to the department of Diaspora at the ministry of foreign affairs.

Reasons for mockery may be western Armenian language or the appearance of students from the Diaspora like long hair for men or shabby jeans.

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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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