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FESTIVAL FALLOUT: VANYAN ORGANIZERS SHOW OF AZERI FILMS AT RESTAURANT OUTSIDE GYUMRI
Georgi Vanyan
http://armenianow.com/arts_and_culture/37290/azerbaijani_film_festival_demonstration_fail_gyumr i
13.04.12 | 15:40
A controversial festival of Azeri films was held at a private
restaurant outside Gyumri after some angry residents of Armenia's
second largest city prevented its holding at a local media club by
staging a protest that also reportedly included an assault on the
festival's organizer Georgi Vanyan.
A festival of Azerbaijani films called "Stop" was to have been held
in Gyumri on April 12, but it failed after dozens of protesters
blocked the entrance to the Asparez club, where the films were to be
demonstrated. The protesters demanded the organizer of the festival
should vacate the building and the city and pelted him with eggs.
Protests in Gyumri and Yerevan were organized against the festival
being organized by Vanyan, the director of the Caucasian Center of
Peaceful Initiative, who had received grants from the United States and
British Embassies for the project. Groups on social networking websites
have been set up to call for "forbidding this shameful initiative."
In Gyumri, Mayor Vardan Ghukasyan slammed the authors of the initiative
saying "they have not descended from the Armenian nation" and "have
nothing to do in Gyumri."
In Yerevan a group of protestors held posters saying "No to grant-taker
Vanyan and the anti-Armenian activity". They handed in an open letter
to the Ministry of Culture which, in particular, said: "Armenia has
neither diplomatic nor cultural ties with Azerbaijan; therefore,
the organization of such festivals should be banned in Armenia once
and for all."
According to Vanyan, the festival was meant to introduce to the
Armenian audience to the best samples of the contemporary Azerbaijani
film industry.
To avoid further incident, Vanyan and his colleagues were taken from
the city by a police vehicle accompanied by another police car.
In the evening the Asparez club issued a statement, condemning the
violence against Vanyan and calling the action "unbecoming of a
Gyumri resident".
According to the journalistic club, the show of the films took place
at a restaurant on the Gyumri-Yerevan highway for people who went to
Gyumri from Yerevan and met Vanyan there.
Georgi Vanyan
http://armenianow.com/arts_and_culture/37290/azerbaijani_film_festival_demonstration_fail_gyumr i
13.04.12 | 15:40
A controversial festival of Azeri films was held at a private
restaurant outside Gyumri after some angry residents of Armenia's
second largest city prevented its holding at a local media club by
staging a protest that also reportedly included an assault on the
festival's organizer Georgi Vanyan.
A festival of Azerbaijani films called "Stop" was to have been held
in Gyumri on April 12, but it failed after dozens of protesters
blocked the entrance to the Asparez club, where the films were to be
demonstrated. The protesters demanded the organizer of the festival
should vacate the building and the city and pelted him with eggs.
Protests in Gyumri and Yerevan were organized against the festival
being organized by Vanyan, the director of the Caucasian Center of
Peaceful Initiative, who had received grants from the United States and
British Embassies for the project. Groups on social networking websites
have been set up to call for "forbidding this shameful initiative."
In Gyumri, Mayor Vardan Ghukasyan slammed the authors of the initiative
saying "they have not descended from the Armenian nation" and "have
nothing to do in Gyumri."
In Yerevan a group of protestors held posters saying "No to grant-taker
Vanyan and the anti-Armenian activity". They handed in an open letter
to the Ministry of Culture which, in particular, said: "Armenia has
neither diplomatic nor cultural ties with Azerbaijan; therefore,
the organization of such festivals should be banned in Armenia once
and for all."
According to Vanyan, the festival was meant to introduce to the
Armenian audience to the best samples of the contemporary Azerbaijani
film industry.
To avoid further incident, Vanyan and his colleagues were taken from
the city by a police vehicle accompanied by another police car.
In the evening the Asparez club issued a statement, condemning the
violence against Vanyan and calling the action "unbecoming of a
Gyumri resident".
According to the journalistic club, the show of the films took place
at a restaurant on the Gyumri-Yerevan highway for people who went to
Gyumri from Yerevan and met Vanyan there.