WILL FRENCH AUTHORITIES RESPOND TO ANTI-ARMENIAN MANIFESTATIONS?
Noyan Tapan
June 29, 2009
SAINT-CHAMOND, JUNE 29, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. According to
the VAN organization working in France, notes of Nazi character were
discovered on the entrance doors of the Saint Peter (Surb Petros)
Armenian church of the Saint-Chamond city of Loire province,
France: "Armenia-Nazi," "Armenia Le Pen-right extremist," "Death
to Armenia." In VAN’s opinion, these notes were made early in the
morning of April 26, after the Sipan Komitas choir had performed in
the mentioned church on the commemoration day of the Armenian Genocide
victims, April 24. The hayernaysor.am electronic newspaper reported
this. According to the same source, the Armenian organizations of Loire
and Saint-Chamond introduced a complaint to Saint-Chamond Police on
the incident, but received no response.
According to VAN, it is not the first anti-Armenian manifestation
in Saint-Chamond: a memorial of Armenian Genocide victims had been
defiled with notes made with gas balloons, as well as the name board
of the April 24 park had been broken or removed for many times before.
According to the armenews.com website of the Nouvelles d’Armenie
magazine published in France, in June non-identified persons with an
abusive note and picture defiled an Armenian khachkar (cross-stone)
in the city of Issy-les-Moulineaux. The Armenian organizations applied
to Mayor, French National Assembly deputy Michel Barnier elected from
Issy-les-Moulineaux in this connection, with the request of organizing
a meeting to discuss the issue, but were refused. By the way, he had
a meeting with city’s Armenian community the day before the European
Parliament elections to ask for voting for him.
Infringements on the Armenian community of France are also manifested
in the form of terrorism and physical retributions: according to the
same website, on June 5 and 9 an Armenian young man was stabbed with
a knife in his face.
According to the data of Hrach Aslanian, the Head of the European
Armenian Communities’ Department of the RA Ministry of Diaspora, he
is the son of Vice-Chairman and former Chairman of CCAF – Le Conseil
de coordination des organisations armeniennes de France Ara Toranian.
In connection with the incidents CCAF conveyed a complaint to French
Minister of Internal Affairs Mrs Michelle Alliot-Marie for not pursuing
investigations on the facts of criminally liable anti-Armenian
manifestations, the Council demanded undertaking measures that are
used to reveal those guilty of infringements on other communities
of France and to punish them. The Minister has not responded to the
application so far.
It was mentioned that on October 12, 2006 the French National
Assembly adopted a law envisaging criminal prosecution for denying
the fact of Armenian Genocide. The law can come in force in case
of being adopted by the Senate, but it does not take place as the
UMP (People’s Movement) ruling party of French President Nicolas
Sarkozy making a majority there as if has imposed a ban on law’s
adoption. By the way, according to the armnews.com, both the right
and left parties of France had promised to ensure adoption of the
law before the European Parliament elections held on June 8. However,
the very next day they forgot their promise, and CCAF had to organize
actions of protest before all influential French parties’ offices
reminding them of their promise.