Epress.am News from Armenia
It is surprising that such a nationalist movement is unfolding against the people from the Caucasus in Russia, in a country which struggled against Hitler, Stepan, a 19-year-old young man, Russian by origin, told Epress.am during an informal poll in the streets of Yerevan.
For Stepan, the origin of such moods is clear: “You know when the people from the Caucasus come to Russia, they do not give up their traditions and Russians do not like this because there is much difference between them and in many issues their opinions collide.”
Speaking about the rising resentment among Slavonic Russians after the death of a football fan, Stepan said that many of those taking part in clashes did not even know the killed young man: “They only needed a reason. And they got it – the killing of that young football fan.”
According to Stepan, schoolchildren very easily fall under the influence of such movements, “particularly at this age, and it turns into a nationalism.”
The majority of the 20 people interviewed by Epress.am aged between 20 and 25 years were not aware of the developments in Moscow. They turned out not to be interested in what was happening. Amalya, 60, gave such an answer: “Let everyone live in his own country to avoid such problems.”
“The vandalism is unacceptable for me no matter what nationality is involved. Even if Armenians hurt or fight against their enemies I would not accept that,” said 64-year-old babysitter Arina.
Speaking about the possibility of the Caucasus states to unite in this context, Arina expressed concern that “it would turn into a trouble.” “If the peoples of the Caucasus unite and begin to struggle it could bring about very bad consequences. Let Russia settle the developments itself.”
The poll participants spoke about Armenians’ behavior abroad.
“The death of the football fan does not matter in this case, the problem is too deep. You can come across bad attitude towards Armenians in many countries and it is as a result of our compatriots’ behavior that is sometimes inadmissible and at times I feel ashamed of being Armenian,” said 27-year-old Susanna.
In reply to our remark that this problem could be solved legally, she said: “It is possible that they are of racist character but if our nation is not treated well we cannot exclude that there is our fault in it too.”
And according to 25-year-old journalist Piruza, when a man does not live in his own country, he can come across such an attitude from time to time.
“The people come from abroad, build their business, have success and the local population feels that something is wrong and here’s where the nationalist movements start. These are natural processes and they have existed throughout centuries,” she said.