Regarding recent protests over the scheduled showing of Azerbaijani films, Bishop Mikayel Ajapahyan, Primate of the Shirak Armenian Apostolic Diocese, stated that the problem wasn’t watching Azeri or Turkish films, but rather that a festival had been organized.

Protests in the towns of Gyumri and Vanadzor forced organizers to cancel the festival, called “Stop”. In both towns, Georgi Vanyan, who heads the Caucasus Center of Peace-Making Initiatives, one of the organizers along with the U.S. Embassy, was pelted with eggs and stones by angry locals.

Bishop Ajapahyan argued that participating in such an event would mean participating in the adulation of Azerbaijani films.

“I always said that Gyumri residents would never tolerate such a thing. People in Gyumri are unpredictable. They can get riled up over something totally unexpected,” the archbishop said.

“Vanyan kept talking about a festival. This is what got people angry.”

The Shirak Primate says that he would be willing to watch any sort of anti-Armenian film.

“You must always be informed about what the enemy is thinking about you.”