Daily Sabah, Turkey
Jan 9 2015
Pro-Assad photo exhibition at UN headquarters draws criticism
Hagop Vanesian, an Armenian-Syrian, opened photograph exhibition in
the U.N.’s Headquarter in New York. The photos, according to the
claims of the opposition groups, were pro-Assad as the photographer
allegedly has been embedded with the regime forces in Aleppo at the
time of taking the photos. The U.N. representative of the opposition
Syrian National Coalition Najib Ghadbian called the photographer a
propagandist. “I just photograph the suffering of the people,”
Vanesian told the Associated Press in response to Ghadbian’s remarks.
However, the exhibition is sponsored by the Syrian regime. The
exhibition was displayed yesterday including the photos of the ruined
Aleppo, including captions that mention “terror groups.” The Syrian
regime calls the opposition ‘terrorist.’ The photographer, Vanesian,
also said some of the groups, fighting in Aleppo against the regime,
were labeled as terrorist also by the Western countries. However, the
opposition group’s representative was frustrated and called the U.N.
to “correct this grave mistake.” A spokeswoman for Ghadbian, Katie
Guzzi, said they had not had an official response from the U.N.
Ghadbian said the photos paint Syria’s government as a victim, not an
aggressor. In the letter sent by the opposition representative to the
U.N. it was said that “The Syrian Mission uses Mr. Vanesian’s
photography to whitewash the regime’s war crimes and perpetuate its
narrative: that it is a victim rather than the primary perpetrator of
death and destruction in Syria. Indeed Mr. Vanesian has praised Syrian
dictator Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma al-Assad and uses his
photographs to tell a false story of the Assad’s self-proclaimed
humanitarianism. In thanks for his pro-regime activities, Mr. Vanesian
is awarded access to and is at times embedded with Syrian regime
forces in Aleppo. Mr. Vanesian’s photographs include images of the
destruction and suffering in Syria, the undeniable consequence of the
Assad regime’s brutal war on the Syrian people. The “My Homeland”
exhibit perpetuates a pro-Assad narrative; it is shameful that the
U.N. Headquarters will be host to this. By agreeing to host this
Syrian-regime sponsored exhibition, the U.N. violates the policy
governing the United Nations Exhibit Committee, which demands that
“all exhibits must be compatible with the aims, purposes and
principles of the U.N.” There is no question that the proposed “My
Homeland” event is incompatible with the principles of an institution
dedicated to international peace and security. On behalf of the
National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces and all
of those Syrians working for a democratic, peaceful future for their
country, I ask that you cancel the “My Homeland” exhibit.”
The fighting in Syria that began with protests against Assad in 2011
has killed more than 200,000 people and forced millions to flee. U.N.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has accused both the Syrian government
forces and opposition forces of targeting civilians, though former
U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay last year said atrocities by the
Syrian government “far outweigh” crimes by opposition fighters.
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 U.N., 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. The U.N. officials have not made any immediate
comment on the issue.