In a move possibly motivated by a recently released US State Department report on global antisemitism that mentions a small party called the Armenian Aryan Order, the head of that party has been arrested and charged with inciting ethnic hatred, according to a January 25, 2005 report by the Prima news agency. Armen Avetisyan faces a possible prison term of between three and six years if convicted. Mr. Avetisyan has made several public extremist and antisemitic comments over the years, including calls to “cleanse” the state of Jews and violence against Jehovah’s Witnesses, according to Prima.

Earlier in January, Golos Armenii—an independent publication that is normally critical of the government and has in the recent past published antisemitic articles—reported on a recent attack against Armenian priests by Jewish religious fanatics in Israel. The January 18, 2005 article entitled “The Search Is Crowned With Success” criticizes the US State Department for issuing a report on global antisemitism, contending that the US government is hypocritical because it doesn’t report on violence against religious minorities in Israel.

The article then focuses on the report’s section on Armenia, which cites sources within the local Jewish community. The author of the article discounts these reports as alarmist, aimed at creating a false image of Armenian Jews as “’victims’ of ‘antisemitism’ (which has never existed here) that supposedly flourishes in Armenia.” He then warns the local Jewish community to “ponder the possible consequences” of reporting such information to the international community.

[HOME] [ACT] [CONNECT] [JOIN] [ABOUT] [SEARCH]