Hundreds of Turkish ultranationalists marched through the streets of two French cities, chanting threats against Armenians, as tensions over the war in Nagorno-Karabakh increased.
A French anti-racist organization and an organization representing the French Armenian network said that what they called the “Hunting of Armenians” was orchestrated through the Grey Wolves, an ultranationalist Turkish organization active in Western Europe and banned in several countries, adding Austria. The images of the marches, which took place Wednesday night, were disseminated on Twitter accounts with wolf emojis and references to the Turkish call of the ultranationalist organization Bozkurtlar.
The International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism (LICRA) and CCAF, the Coordinating Council of Armenian Organizations in France, called on Thursday to ban wolves.
“Other French people of Armenian origin will have to be able to live in France safely, without being targeted by acts of violence and racial hatred,” the CCAF said in a statement.
A CCAF spokesman, who did not need to be identified for security reasons, said no Armenian was injured in the intimidating marches because there were many others in the house due to coronavirus restrictions.
But his organization was incredibly involved in the incident, which for his network had echoes of the Armenian genocide under the Ottomans.
“We have noticed that many Turks take to the streets in search of Armenians,” he told VICE News. “This is very scary and reminds us of the darkest stages in history. “
The intimidating scenes took place in Vienne and Décines-Charpieu, located near Lyon, a main centre of the French Armenian community, which is the largest in the European Union. Armenia and Azerbaijan are engaged in fierce fighting by Nagorno-Karabakh, a separatist enclave in Azerbaijan that is ruled by ethnic Armenians, and the Azeri receive a major army from Turkey.
Local officials and police said a crowd of Turkish nationalists, estimated at between 150 and 250, descended on Vienna around 7:30 p. m. Images of the scene showed a giant crowd advancing on a police car that retreated, waving Turkish flags and screaming. heard and projectiles rush into the air.
The crowd then gathered in Décines-Charpieu, a heavily Armenian commune in the city of Lyon where the Armenian Genocide Memorial is located. Security hardened at the site once officials realized the problem.
Laurence Fautra, mayor of Décines-Charpieu, said a procession of about 250 more people marched through the city centre waving Turkish flags, shouting violent threats like, “We will kill the Armenians. “
Regional officials tweeted that police had intervened to repair order in reaction to “an illegal grouping of Americans from the Turkish community, apparently wanting to fight with others of Armenian origin. “He said the order had been repaired without violence, and that 65 other people received verbal warnings for violating coronavirus restrictions.
The marches followed previous violent clashes on Wednesday, when an organization of pro-Armenian protesters blocked a road near Vienna and clashed with members of the Turkish community. old man who struck with a hammer.
French officials, police and anti-racist teams denounced the marches. The anti-racist organization LICRA said in one that the demonstrations were “true pogrom opposites to members of the Armenian community” and said that gray wolves “must be dissolved. “
The French Independent Union of Police Commissioners also denounced the marches, saying that network teams had no right to “impose their own law. “
“Communitarianism will not have to take precedence over the Republic!”The organization tweeted.
The CCAF spokeswoman said the tensions were the result of the fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh and the bellicose statements of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, opposed to Armenia. ban gray wolves in France.
“We are very involved with this situation,” he said. This happens after Erdogan’s statements. We must not let his policy of terror take root in France. “
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