ARMENIA YEZIDI GROUP DELIVERS TOILET PAPER TO MP FOR ‘RACIST’ REMARKS
12.10.2013 21:29 epress.am
Members of the Sinjar Yezidi National Union today protested outside
Armenia’s National Assembly for what they are calling racist remarks
by ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) MP Manvel Badeyan.
Protestors, members of the Yazidi ethnic minority in Armenia,
brought a photo of a donkey and a roll of toilet paper to give to
the lawmaker. With these “gifts,” the protestors made clear their
concerns regarding the parliamentarian’s offensive remarks.
In parliament today, a journalist asked the MP whether it was
appropriate that the program “What, Where, When” was broadcast on
Armenian television in the Russian language. “Are you really that
low-levelled that you think like that? If this question was asked by
some Yazidi on the street I wouldn’t be surprised, but do you really
think like that?” MP Badeyan replied, adding that “the working language
of that program is Russian.”
Sinjar Yezidi National Union representative Boris Tamoyan (pictured)
said the parliamentarian’s remarks are uneducated remarks and cannot
even be considered remarks, and they brought the toilet paper so that
the MP can clean his mouth. Protestors left both the toilet paper
and the image of a donkey at the parliament’s reception desk.
Tamoyan said that representatives of the Yezidi community in Armenia
intend to appeal to the parliamentary ethics committee, though
they believe that in the committee and in the parliament at large
the majority of MPs are no different than Badeyan. According to the
Sinjar Yezidi National Union, officials often display such an attitude
toward ethnic minorities. He described how a presidential candidate
(whom he did not name) declared in a Yazidi village that Yezidis do
not need a kindergarten.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
