Recent events at 'Domodevodo' airport received a compassionate response all over the world. Natalia Martirosyan, co-chair of Armenian Helsinki Public Assembly Committee, told VK her opinion of the case and the consequences of this horrifying acct of terror.
- It is impossible not to feel for the victims of this tragedy. And the fact that all these people - Russians and citizens of other countries - were innocent is the worst of all, I think. No cause justifies such atrocities. We can see that not a single political group during all the history of terrorism could achieve its aims by committing acts of terror. Recently, the very notion of terrorism became somewhat unclear: now any crime against humanity can be called an act of terror pursuing some political reasons, and those who commit these crimes try to pronounce themselves 'heroes'.
- Right after the act of terror, there were claims that Caucasus residents were responsible. Is it possible to suspect people of being terrorists merely because of their ethnicity?
- Yes, first of all they said that the terrorist is of 'Caucasus ethnicity', than they said that he belonged to a South European group... But why do we have to bring up the criminal's ethnicity in the first place, that's the question! The investigation must be carried out impartially even when the crime is most outrageous. Unfortunately, today we have a sort of stereotype for a criminal like that: many people where surprised when they learned that the 'Domodedovo' terrorist was not a woman-suicide bomber. And such stereotypes give a sort of free hand for nationalists and fascists who only make the situation with ethnic tensions worse while terrorism problem remains unsolved.
- So you think that the fight against terrorism involves breaking such stereotypes?
- Of course. Such stereotypes hamper the investigation as a crime is always specific, not typical. A multi-ethnic community must fight its stereotypes to re-unite its peoples, as with further atrocities they will grow more and more apart. I think common interests should be found and all the differences should be replaced by them.
Interview by Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan. Exclusively for VK
