Thursday, August 15 2019 13:43

ArmInfo.In mid-September 2019, High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs of Armenia Zareh Sinanyan intends to visit Sochi, where on the ground he will try to understand  the situation around the Sochi airport and the reasons for the  dismissal of employees with Armenian surnames.

 As Sinanyan stated on August 15 in an interview with reporters, as of today the reasons for the dismissals and their possible relation to ethnicity are unclear  to him. "There are various rumors and conjectures that can be refuted  or found out only on the ground," he said. As Sinanyan assured, he  will contact all competent persons who can at least somehow clarify  the situation.

At the same time, Zareh Sinanyan denied rumors that the conflict  could be due to tensions in the Armenian- Russian relations that  arose after the visit of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs  to the Russian Federation. "I do not see any particular tension in  the Armenia-Russia relations," he noted.  As ArmInfo wrote earlier,  for several months now, a real ethnic cleansing among employees has  been going on at Sochi Airport - according to various pretexts,  employees with Armenian surnames have been dismissed from work. It  was reported that it all started in 2018. The first was  carried out in two services (Transportation Organization Service,  Aviation Security Service). They used the method of intimidation and  coercion, further, the rest who refused to quit themselves were  trivially dismissed by changing the structure of the service,  although the number and functionality did not change and the  recruitment for work does not stop and continues to this day.

It should be noted that after a group of airport employees who were  supposed to be relieved of work at the end of August made a special  statement on this subject, numerous media outlets picked up the topic  and it received widespread "outrage" not only in Sochi itself, but  far beyond. As a result, the Sochi airport management abandoned  further vicious practice of discrimination against Armenian  employees. They were told that they would no longer be kicked out of  work.

However, instead of an apology, the leadership of Sochi Airport  yesterday decided to shift the responsibility for such behavior, and  made its statement published in TASS. In it, the airport management  considered itself insulted, speaking of its personnel policy as  "complying with the norms and requirements of the legislation of the  Russian Federation".

The Armenian Embassy in Russia also issued a statement in connection  with the situation around the Sochi airport. "The Armenian Embassy in  the Russian Federation contacted different parties in connection with  the situation around the Sochi airport to clarify information and  obtain clarifications. Conversations were held with the relevant  structures of Sochi, the airport management, citizens participating  in the situation and representatives of the Armenian community. The  Embassy received explanations from different sides, including groups  of citizens, the local Armenian community and relevant structures.  The above issue is in the focus of the embassy's attention, " the  press service of the Armenian Embassy in Russia told ArmInfo.