Police Eject Miscreant Renters from the Area: Zareh Sinanyan on the Incident

Yesterday, an attempt was made to disrupt a meeting of the Armenian community in Cologne, Germany. This was reported by Zareh Sinanyan, the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs, reflecting on the provocative incident.

“The style of provocation was reminiscent of the events in Los Angeles in July 2022. In other words, a petty act of hooliganism, which was randomly linked to segments of former officials rejected by the Armenian nation and to the notorious traditional organization serving enemies of the Armenian people, surfaced in 'media' events.

So, four individuals unknown to the community arrived, who from the very first moment began shouting at me, accusing me of coming to ask for money (for a primitive mind, there is no other topic beyond money), and they smoothly transitioned to asking me for money themselves. They demanded their money, which they claimed to have given during the war. When asked by those present whom they had given money to, they replied that it had been given to whoever needed it.... Alongside this, they began with familiar accusations regarding land surrender and treason.

It turned out that three of these four were a father, mother, and son, and after emigrating from Armenia in 1991, they have loved their homeland from afar for over thirty years and are fighting for Artsakh and Armenia!

After giving them some time for their clownish act, I asked if they were done, to which they replied, continuing their circus. I insisted they leave, as they had fulfilled the orders of their paymasters, executed their lowly function, and I would not allow them to disturb us.

They insisted that I be the one to leave, not them. They were mistaken, probably because they did not recognize me, and as a result, the German police ejected the scruffy mercenaries from the area. We continued our long and productive meeting with the community.

The most painful part was that while the police were clearing the area of the hooligans, I was approached by the world-renowned professor of the Max Planck Institute, Mikayel Melkonyan, who was born in Germany and does not speak Armenian. Apologizing in English for the mercenaries' behavior, he said he had come to the meeting to listen to me and discuss collaboration, but did not want to be in this undignified atmosphere, and this sort of people were the reason he did not participate in community life.

After the meeting, several young people expressed similar thoughts, stating that the most prominent and educated youth avoid participating in community life because of these unhealthy elements. Thus, our traditional former officials recorded yet another significant moral victory by organizing another show and printing foolish headlines in the morning articles. However, in reality, they have only gained an additional segment of the Armenian nation that deeply hates them and is disgusted by them. In their own more familiar language: They wanted to do better, but it turned out as always,” he wrote.