NOVOROSSIISK ARMENIANS SEEK RUSSIAN, ARMENIAN PRESIDENTS’
INTERVENTION TO STOP COSSACK RAMPAGE
ArmenPress
March 23 2005
NOVOROSSIISK, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS: According to a report from the
southern Russian city of Novorossiisk in the province of Krasnodar,
the local Armenian community will ask for intervention of Russian and
Armenian presidents to stop a new wave of anti-Armenian rampage.
Yerkramas weekly, a newspaper run by the Armenian community of
southern Russia, said local Armenian community accused the city
law-enforcement bodies of failing to stick to their promises and
guarantee local Armenians’ safety.
The newspaper said these guarantees were given on March 22 morning
after Cossacks from nearby regions went on a rampage in a town
quarter populated by Armenians destroying cars, cafes and shops,
owned by Armenians. On the same day local mayor appealed to Armenian
and Greek diasporas and the Cossack to observe law and stop
disorders, but on the same evening around 200 Cossacks arrived in the
town to attack Armenians and Greeks.
According to a witness, the clash was caused by a squabble at a
local cafe when Cossacks led by their chieftain attacked a group of
Armenians and Greeks who were having a birthday party. In the
subsequent fight the chieftain was injured and was rushed to a
hospital where doctors had to operate on him. Local law-enforcement
bodies opened a criminal investigation.
Inter-ethnic tension in this region that has the largest Armenian
community around the globe, according to various estimations, between
800,000 to 1 million, constituting 18 percent of the region’s overall
five million population, have become commonplace.
The historic Armenian presence in the Krasnodar region dates back
centuries, mainly due to the incentives offered by Tsarist officials
to Armenians willing to move to the region. Throughout the 19th
century, the Armenians contributed to an expansion of the region’s
commerce and agriculture.
Additional numbers of Armenian refugees settled in the region in
1988 in the wake of anti-Armenian pogroms by Azeris in Sumgait,
Kirovabad, and Baku.
A related influx of Armenians from Nagorno Karabagh, Javakhk, and
Abkhazia also strengthened the Armenian presence in the Krasnodar
region. After fleeing the anti-Armenian attacks by Azeris, the
Russian-speaking Armenians from Baku, in particular, often preferred
to resettle in Krasnodar, Stavropol, and Moscow, rather than in
Armenia, mainly because of their lack of Armenian language skills and
the need for Russian schools that were closing in Armenia.