LOS ANGELES—The Armenian Revolutionary Federation Shant Student Association on Wednesday issued a statement condemning a recent hate crime in Yerevan that has sparked controversy. Below is the text of the statement.
The news of a recent fire-bombing incident at a private business operating in Yerevan is disturbing. Furthermore, the fact that the violence was motivated by intolerance and homophobia makes it even more outrageous and deserving of the strongest condemnation.
In the aftermath of this incident, certain groups and individuals have opted to point the finger of blame on the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, simply because the suspects apprehended for the unfortunate crime allegedly have affiliations with the organization. What has inflamed the matter further are the equally unfortunate statements made by some individual party members in Armenia.
The egregious act and the subsequent statements run counter to the fundamental tenets and ideology of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation. As the ARF Program states: “the ARF advocates individual freedoms and rejects all forms of and expressions of domination and exploitation including fascism, racism, and chauvinistic manifestations of national supremacy.”
The ARF firmly believes that democracy is anchored by respect for human and civil rights and freedoms for all and that free expression, even amongst party members, is vital to the growth and development of any peoples.
True to its ideology, the ARF is dedicated to utilizing its resources to defending the political, economic, social, and cultural interests of the Armenian nation with the goal of creating the Free Armenian, the Free Citizen, and a free homeland.
We stand in full support of an Armenia that is free of all forms of discrimination, intolerance, and violence. Those responsible for the crime must be brought to justice to the full extent of the law. We, along with countless others inside Armenia and throughout the Diaspora will be vigilantly advocating equal rights by encouraging a long overdue dialogue and discourse that will advance the cause of freedom and free expression and quell any future incidents that target a group or individuals that are subjected to discrimination.
ARMENIAN REVOLUTIONARY FEDERATION “SHANT” STUDENT ASSOCIATION (USA)
What is wrong with homophobia? If homophobia is fear of homosexuals or LGBT’s, that is warranted because it decays society. Maybe I’m too old for teenagers these days who seem to be brainwashed enough to support this perversion, but I feel accepting these people as a normal part of society will ultimately erode of our national identity, culture and religion. Look at what has happen to many countries.
Hey AYF, where was the outcry when our heros attacked Turkish targets to bring worldwide attention. You are hypocrites and ignorant. These idiots who vandalized this establishment simply caused more unwarranted negative attention to Armenia and ARF on this issue. PERHAPS THAT WAS THE OBJECTIVE.
“Look at what has happen to many countries”. Answer = They are far ahead of us.
Hey J.V., What alternative do you suggest instead of “accepting these people as a normal part of society”? Deporting them? Jailing them? Throwing fire bombs at them?
When is it that the diasporas political and social organizations, will understand that The Republic of Eastern Armenia is NOT our Home. It seems to me that great effort is being used by the Armenian media to present this Eastern Armenian Republic as our only home or republic.
We in the diaspora have been duped for the past 21 years. All our energy and resources have been concentrated on this small plot of land, whose leadership and citizens are completely ungrateful to us and to our political and social organizations. When is it that we in the diaspora will finally understand that we will NOT be Welcomed, regardless of our sacrifices, because, change is from within, not from outside pressure.
Years ago, a friend of mine received a call from a relative who had immigrated from Soviet Armenia to LA and someone in the background kept repeating “Pogh, Pogh, Pogh Ouzi” Not understanding what the person in the background was asking, he called me to share the conversation and asked me what is Pogh? Guess what, that’s what the citizens of Eastern Armenia demand from us, Money, and only money. To every question that is addressed, once the information is shared, the answer is always Gidem, Gidem. Why in the F**K did you ask then!
For over 73 years after the fall of the first Republic, we rebuilt our schools, churches, we preserved our culture, our language, our identity, with no financial help other than the dedicated, devoted Armenians living in the diaspora. Once, the third republic declared independence, we share with the new leadership our decades of relationships that our three diaspora organizations had built from ground up.
When was the last time anyone ambassador or consul general from the Eastern Armenian Republic ever written a piece of appreciation or gratitude? Tell you what, they sell medals on ebay by the pound!
Most of these Immigrants from the Eastern Armenian republic, utilizes the ARS, Hai Getron, but bad mouth the ARF, AYF at every and any opportunity.
When will the diaspora ever understand NEVER!
You’re an idiot. You are what keeps the division between Armenians fresh and festering. In fact, its with your illogical statements that allows for Turkey to keep on its denial campaign, and for Armenia (the land you don’t call “yours”) to concentrate on larger things like corruption, economy, etc. Yes, things are bad, but I sure as hell aren’t go to look at someone like you to fix them..all you do is complain. why don’t you try moving here, building something here, then if it fails, try again. Things aren’t going to change because you commented on Asbarez’s website.
If you can’t deal with reality, then the incompetent idiot is you. What does the denial by RoT have anything to do with my statements? They have denied and will continue to deny till your face turns blue. The only positive outcome is that the turks because of our claims are the ones changing their society, they are making the changes in order to show the politicians in eurpoe and the states who suffer from severe amnesia that they are the new, the refined turks. What did I say that you found illogical? Did it bother you that all they ask is for money? Did that statement hit a nerve, or was it a reality check? I never made statements on corruption, the economy, or anything that needs to be fixed. Just want to know temramol es? che te ankelkh.
Privet, tzangoutun chounem magazin business panam yev turkish mirk badjkhayov pogh ashkhadem!
By the way, that;s a very interesting armenian name you have. I’m sure you come from a long line of proud armenians.
Don’t worry trick, I don’t need anyone like you to lead my cause. Like you said, you would rather run after the dollar, what a trick.
Dear Hrant
It seems you have deep personal issues with Hayastantsis. I’m sure if you were aware of the “assistance” that Soviet Armenia provided to the Lebanese Armenian community during the civil war you wouldn’t trash this page with your ignorant comment.
That should be a very interesting read.
ARF-ers championing gays in Armenia LOL!!!
What a delusional/twisted bunch… Garegin and Dro must be turning in their graves…
They definitely are. This is NOT what they fought for. They would’ve been against this for sure. Unfortunately, the Dashnaks living in the Western countries have been brainwashed like the rest of the sheeple.
When you write, “What has inflamed the matter further are the equally unfortunate statements made by some individual party members in Armenia,” are you referring to the two ARF REPS/Members of Parliament who posted the bail and one who actually said: “I am convinced that those youth (The Fire Bombers) acted the right way, in the context of our societal and national ideals.” Obviously he just trashed your above stated ARF ideology. Will the ARF request him to CHANGE his ideology or resign?
Guys — respect to you all. Gotta say — I ain’t no big fan of ARF, but this was impressive, can’t deny that. We need to stamp out intolerance in our ranks, and I am very glad that Armenian youth is working towards
that.
This is the ARF that will change Armenia!
OUTRAGEOUS! This statement makes people think that Shant is a ”schism/cult/sect” inside ARF!
What a disgraceful statement! and Asbarez how could you publish this?!!!! FOR GOD’S SAKE!
This is the last thing that our poor country Armenia needs.
as per ARF “SHANT” student association:their goal is creating the Free Armenian, the Free Citizen, and a free homeland.
HOW ABOUT AN ARMENIA FREE OF ARMENIANS? except g/ls who can not bring children to this world and for Armenia except the artificial way. I lost my trust in ARF. They could not fix the problems in the Armenian government and now they are busy defending the rights of the gays & lesbians so they will infest our young homeland. Sometimes I wonder if they are really Armenian. I don’t agree with the hate crime but I don’t agree with the promotion of homosecuality!
We have a situation where Armenians in diaspora are doing everything possible for the betterment of life in Armenia, and positive light that Armenia is progressive and respects human rights, then there comes a couple of thugs who think the way think is the best for the society and whoever is “not desirable” are a fair game. WORST OF ALL is the outrageous deeds and declarations of members of top leadership of ARF-Armenia, such as Artsvik Minassyan, who not only pays the money for the bail, but says that “these lads are normal youth acting against dangerous aspects of society”.
If ARF Armenia wants to save any shred of credibility and worth, they should A) condemn, in no uncertain terms, this criminal act of bombing a gay-friendly bar in Yerevan, B) Kick out Minassyan from the ranks of ARF, and make sure that ideas espoused by Minassian are condemned and will not be tolerated by the ARF.
If they fail in correcting this shameful display of xenophobia, a huge and destructive (to use Minassyan’s words) chasm will be created between the diaspora ARF bodies and ARF-Armenia.
so gays and lesbians can join your ARMENIAN REVOLUTIONARY FEDERATION “SHANT” STUDENT ASSOCIATION (USA) ???? voghpam tsez !!! i guess you guys lived so long in the US …
in Armenia talks and BS walks together but things gets solved with the Armenian way !
go ahead you guys can condemn much as you like , than what ?
I think a very important point in this discussion is that almost 99% of gays don’t become gay by choice. Almost 99% of gays were already gays when they were children. This knowledge or information is very important, because once you realize that almost all gays don’t choose to be gay, then gays cease to be “threat” to the society.” This implies that when a child sees two gays kissing each other they will not become gay. Once parents realize this, then gays will not be considered threat to their kids and the chances that they will tolerate gays, increases. Therefore the source of homophobia is ignorance, which generates unjustified fear.
Those two men who bombed the gay bar in Yerevan, didn’t protect the kids in Armenia from gays, because the kids in Armenia were not threatened by gays. This bombing and similar acts just scares the gays in Armenia and do not allow them to live a peaceful life, transforming Armenia into an uncivilized, undemocratic country such as Zimbabwe under Mugabe or Sierra Leone since 1967. These are sad days for Armenia.
The Gay “Rights” Movement, Feminism, Atheism, Multiculturalism, and Political Correctness have been the dominant ideologies in the Western nations and now they’re declining (and that’s an understatement). Meanwhile, the East is on the rise. This is what happens when you destroy family values. The traditional family forms the base of a society. If you take that away, the society will crumble. After seeing the results in the Western nations, why repeat the same mistakes in Armenia? And how smart is it to import these movements into Armenia considering that the population is only 3 million?
The above-mentioned ideologies were all formed by the same group of elite that control the entire Western world (Սիոնական Հրեաները). They are orchestrating these movements with the intention to deliberately destroy the Western societies and every other society in the world except their own (Իսրաէլ), so their homeland would have no competition and would rule the world. They control the media in the West (including Hollywood), so they brainwashed all of us into thinking that these movements are good for society when in reality, they’re harmful. It’s psychological warfare; psyops. If you don’t believe me, I dare you all to ask me to back up what I wrote. Or do some research on your own and stop watching TV (the thought-police box).
By the way, George Soros’ Open Society Institute (the same one that funded and keeps funding Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s party) has funded this gay bar in Armenia. It is also funding the Women’s Resource Centre, Armenia.
I’m willing to bet that the incident was planned in order to attract attention to the LGBT movement. I agree with J.V. when he said, “These idiots who vandalized this establishment simply caused more unwarranted negative attention to Armenia and ARF on this issue. PERHAPS THAT WAS THE OBJECTIVE.”
Let’s see if Asbarez will respect my freedom of expression and allow this to be posted.
Couldn’t have said it better. Thank you.
This has to be probably one of the most ridiculous (and anti-semetic) things I’ve ever heard!
very twisted, not to mention…childish “analysis”. God help us form such utter ignorance.
It’s amazing how many of these comments are from individuals who have a innate hate towards the ARF or AYF, but they seem to be like voyeurs flirting with this site. I wonder if in reality they have low self esteem and that is why they are surprised to see what social beliefs the ARF has.
Juvenile and primitive homophobic responses here is a reflection of the criminal mindset that permits and tolerates cowardly acts of bombing, and why not even murder (if the bombers are right in their thuggish actions). All this shows that some segments in our society need a lot of help to cut through the dense prejudices befitting ignorant and uncivilized societies.
We used to say “Turks need a hundred years to bring themselves to modern age”, it seems we are not that far behind.
This whole talk about Սիոնական Հրեաներ trying to use homosexuality to support the rise of the East is complete nonsense, especially because Իսրաէլ fully embraces those “threats” in their homeland in a much more supportive attitude than most countries in the EU. I don’t know about you, but I would rather live in a country that welcomes Armenians; gay or straight, religious or non-religious, western and eastern. Democracy flourishes when everyone can express themselves without fear of persecution and terror. Those Armenians who distinguish other Armenians for reasons of religious or sexual preference, should be ashamed of themselves, and consider themselves as agents in the uncivilization of Armenia. Pat yourselves on the back for bringing Armenia closer towards the Middle East and the backwards nature of Taliban.
Though I am not a member of the ARF, for the Shant Student Association to come out in support of equal rights is not only impressive but an incredibly powerful step in the right direction. It points to a growing trend of inclusion and tolerance here in the Diaspora, which is ultimately what our nation needs if we are ever going to amount to strength as a culture and as a a political entity. I applaud the Shant Student Association. We can’t change Armenia if we haven’t begun to change ourselves.
As a member of the ARF in Australia and a Homosexual I am outraged, Mr Minasyan’s comments in support of the arsonists, ultra-nationalists and homophobes is a disgrace.
I thank the ARF Shant Student Association for commenting against the statements of Mr Minasyan (a member of the ARF in the Armenian Parliament).
As Armenians we have been discriminated and persecuted in the past, the last thing we want to do is discriminate against our own people, homosexual or not.
I guess facts are “racist”.