"MIATSUM" SUPPORTERS MARCH TO GENOCIDE MEMORIAL; BURN PROTOCOLS IN EFFIGY
2009 /10/06 | 21:57
Society
Yesterday evening, members of the "Miastsum" movement marched from
the Mergelyan Institute in Yerevan to the "Tzitzernakaberd" Genocide
Memorial and symbolically burned a copy of the Armenian-Turkish
protocols.
The crowd carried signs and banners reading "Traitors, Get Out",
"No to the Turkish Protocols" and "Those Who Hand Over Lands Are
Traitors". "Miatsum" member Jirayr Sefilyan said that his organization,
contrary to others, rejects the protocols outright as well as the
process that has lead to their signing. "We have no illusions that
our symbolic burning of the protocols will stop the process. It is
simply an outburst of the majority of the people," Mr. Sefilyan noted.
A scuffle broke out between the protestors and police when
Mrs. Parandzem, a mother of a fallen freedom fighter, tried to burn
a photo of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan.
A top-ranking police official on the scene called "Miatsum" member
Tigran Khzmalyan a "failed artist" and suggested that the director
stick to making movies and sculpture. In response, Mr. Khzmalyan
stated that the actions and insults of the police only go to show the
deep level of alienation between the current regime and the public at
large. "The police should be defending the public and the constitution
and not the band of thugs who trample these values," he stated.
Mr. Sefilyan said they weren’t aware that the woman intended to burn
a photo of the president and that it was a spontaneous act.
"What took place was a spontaneous outburst but a citizen has the
right to express an opinion in the way he or she sees fit. It was a
symbolic act that will reverberate in the public’s eye," he noted.
Mr. Sefilyan declared that the organization would step up its
propaganda campaign against the protocols and that similar symbolic
burnings of the document and a signature petition would soon take
place in various Yerevan neighbourhoods.