An attempt by an Armenian NGO to organise an Azerbaijani film festival has failed after protestors surrounded the venue where it was to be held. This was the second time that the Caucasus Centre for Peacemaking Initiatives has tried to organise such an event.
According to media reports about 50 people blocked the entrance to Asbarez club in the Armenian city of Gyumri, shouting slogans “No to Azerbaijani films festival!”.
The protesters entered the club and threathened the organiser of the event, chairman of the Caucasus Center of Peace-Making Initiatives until he agreed to cancel it. The protesters threw eggs at Georgi Vanyan’s car as he left the area.
In a statement Vanyan accused the Mayor of Gyumri of orchjestrating the protest.
Commonspace.eu political editor said that the incident is symptomatic of public mood in both Armenia and Azerbaijan where war rhetoric over the last twenty years is now deeply embedded in the mind of the vast majority of the population of the two countries. "There is nothing to suggest that a similar situation would not have arisen if somebody had tried to organise an Armenian film festival in Azerbaijan. It is not that the two sides do not like each other's cinema. Public opinion is constantly being fed propaganda that depicts the other side as enemy and aggressor. Those who try to break these sterotypical images end up being accused of being traitors. The two governments have to bear some responsability for this situation and the quicker they understand the need to start reversing this process the better. In the meantime those elements of civil society that have the courage to challenge the present situation need to be supported and encouraged."
source: commonspace.eu with agencies
