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Syrian-Armenian photographer's exhibit opens at UN
January 9, 2015 - 12:01 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - The UN representative of the opposition Syrian
National Coalition demanded that the United Nations take down a new
photo exhibit sponsored by the Syrian government, saying Syria is
using it to "whitewash the regime's war crimes," the Associated Press
reported.
The "My Homeland" exhibit opened Thursday, Jan 9, with photographs of
ruined Aleppo.
The UN secretary-general's spokesman had no immediate comment on the
letter from Najib Ghadbian asking the UN to "correct this grave
mistake." A spokeswoman for Ghadbian, Katie Guzzi, said they had not
had an official response from the UN, according to the AP.
Ghadbian said the photos paint Syria's government as victim, not aggressor.
The fighting in Syria that began with protests against Assad in 2011
has killed more than 200,000 people and forced millions to flee. UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has accused both the Syrian government
forces and opposition forces of targeting civilians, though former UN
human rights chief Navi Pillay last year said atrocities by the Syrian
government "far outweigh" crimes by opposition fighters.
Ghadbian called the photographer behind the new exhibit, Hagop
Vanesian, a propagandist, saying that he at times has been embedded
with Syrian forces in Aleppo.
In a phone call, Vanesian told the AP his work is "humanitarian" and
said he's not a politician.
"I just photograph the suffering of the people," he said.
Vanesian, who was born in Aleppo and has been a volunteer photographer
with the aid group Syrian Arab Red Crescent, said he left the divided
northern city eight months ago. Last summer, he posted photos of
Facebook of him shaking hands with Syria's ambassador to the UN, as
well as black-and-white portraits of the ambassador, Bashar Ja'afari.
"The war in Syria changed my life but not my principals," Vanesian's
Twitter profile says.
http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/186918/
From: A. Papazian
January 9, 2015 - 12:01 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - The UN representative of the opposition Syrian
National Coalition demanded that the United Nations take down a new
photo exhibit sponsored by the Syrian government, saying Syria is
using it to "whitewash the regime's war crimes," the Associated Press
reported.
The "My Homeland" exhibit opened Thursday, Jan 9, with photographs of
ruined Aleppo.
The UN secretary-general's spokesman had no immediate comment on the
letter from Najib Ghadbian asking the UN to "correct this grave
mistake." A spokeswoman for Ghadbian, Katie Guzzi, said they had not
had an official response from the UN, according to the AP.
Ghadbian said the photos paint Syria's government as victim, not aggressor.
The fighting in Syria that began with protests against Assad in 2011
has killed more than 200,000 people and forced millions to flee. UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has accused both the Syrian government
forces and opposition forces of targeting civilians, though former UN
human rights chief Navi Pillay last year said atrocities by the Syrian
government "far outweigh" crimes by opposition fighters.
Ghadbian called the photographer behind the new exhibit, Hagop
Vanesian, a propagandist, saying that he at times has been embedded
with Syrian forces in Aleppo.
In a phone call, Vanesian told the AP his work is "humanitarian" and
said he's not a politician.
"I just photograph the suffering of the people," he said.
Vanesian, who was born in Aleppo and has been a volunteer photographer
with the aid group Syrian Arab Red Crescent, said he left the divided
northern city eight months ago. Last summer, he posted photos of
Facebook of him shaking hands with Syria's ambassador to the UN, as
well as black-and-white portraits of the ambassador, Bashar Ja'afari.
"The war in Syria changed my life but not my principals," Vanesian's
Twitter profile says.
http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/186918/
From: A. Papazian