Xenophobia is a very sensitive issue; it is very easy to find a reason and lay blame on people who are not like you for all your problems, said the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan during an interview with ‘Echo’ of Moscow commenting on the recurrent cases of ethnically motivated unrests in Russia, in late 2010.

“There are people who see the solution of problems in accusation of those who are not like them. I think it’s unusual for the Russian state, for the Russian people.

The events that happened are troubling, but I’m sure that the problem can be solved by enforcing the Penal Code”, expressed confidence Serzh Sargsyan, adding that of course there will be some discontent, but it will not be attributed to the Russian state.

“Whether we like or not, in Russia or in Armenia, common people evaluate the actions of our law enforcement as the authorities’ actions. And when a judge sentences a murderer for three or four years, of course that raises questions. Therefore I want to recall a case which occurred in Karabakh in 1967. This case demonstrates that Karabakh will never agree with the decision of a political body, who tied Karabakh with Azerbaijan (the Caucasian Bureau of the Communist Party). In 1967, in Stepanakert, there was a trial of Azerbaijanis who killed one student, an Armenian. The Court of Azerbaijan did not make a very harsh sentence. The people’s outrage led to a rebellion. They overturned the prisoners-paddy set the van on fire and a lynching took place. Naturally, there were political roots. First time Stepanakert was placed under a curfew. This would have not transpired if the court declared a just verdict. Of course, I do not want to give the impression that this question can be easily solve only by the Criminal Code or the behavior of judges. However, justice can have a very positive impact. In addition, everyone will understand that they will suffer a harsh punishment for this”, summed up the President.