Dzigarkhanyan’s a Traitor, and You Won’t Change Fellow Azerbaijanis with Festivals, Says Sos Sargsyan

Assuming the disguise of a wise fool, Armen Dzigarkhanyan himself doesn’t know what he’s talking about, said People’s Artist of the USSR, Art Director of the Hamazgayin State Theater Sos Sargsyan during a Yerkramas online press conference, commenting on Dzigarkhanyan’s statements on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

“At the same time, I personally, unfortunately, cannot influence him in this matter, because it was a long time ago when we were really close. There’s this notion of “as wise fools.” Well he, wearing the mask of a wise fool, doesn’t understand what he’s talking about. I look upon all this very negatively. I think that one shouldn’t lose his roots, betray the blood of his father and mother. Treachery always and at all times was punished,” he said.

Dzigarkhanyan has repeatedly spoken of the need for the two nations (Armenia and Azerbaijan) to reconcile, noting that the conflict provoked “uncivilized people, and those who fuel the conflict between Azeris and Armenians have vested interests.”

Commenting on attempts to hold festivals in Armenia to screen Turkish or Azerbaijani films, Sargsyan (pictured above) said though he was not personally invited to these festivals, in general, he welcomes and accepts such initiatives.

“Of course, it would be nice if such initiatives were mutual and the Turks and Azerbaijanis also held festivals of our films in their countries. At the same time, I believe that such steps won’t soften the attitude of our fellow Azerbaijanis and won’t make them more humane. In Azerbaijan, there is such  ‘Armenophobia’ [a hatred of Armenians] that arouses dread in any average person. It pains me that it is hammered to those people from morning to night that they have to hate everything Armenian. The problem lies in the fact as to how long the Azeris can keep this poison inside them,” concluded Sos Sargsyan.

Note, past attempts to organize Turkish and Azerbaijani film festivals in Armenia have been thwarted or at least hindered by local Armenians who have threatened (both physically and verbally) not only the organizer, but also those who showed the slightest support for such initiatives. Nevertheless, two screenings of Turkish films have taken place in the last year in Armenia — the first in Yerevan in March 2010 and the second in Vanadzor in March of this year.

Photo: fotobank.ru