Unknown Attempted to Set Fire to Center of Armenian Culture in Pyatigorsk

PanARMENIAN.Net - On November 13 night in Pyatigorsk (Stavropol region) unknown tried to set fire to the Center of Armenian culture where the offices of some Armenian organizations are located, Yerkramas, the newspaper of Armenians of Russia reported. The building adjoins the Armenian Church. The crime was shot by an observation camera. Three malefactors wrote "Allahu Akbar" at the wall of the building and then threw a bottle with ignition compound in the window. Fortunately the bottle hit the frame. On hearing the explosion the residents of neighbor buildings called firemen, who extinguished fire during 7 minutes. An operative group and a dog specialist arrived at the locus delicti. The traces led to a road and then disappeared. To all appearances the criminals escaped in a car.



A special sitting of the ethnic council with the participation of representatives of 7 communities was held in Pyatigorsk. A statement taken upon completion of the sitting says in part, "The law states such actions as deliberate elimination of property. The inscription on the wall proves that the persons, who committed the crime set their mind on destabilizing the situation of the town. This scandalous matter is a recurrent unit of the chain of similar events that have become ordinary in out town. This wave of crimes is targeted at undermining of civic principles and moral values. The ethnic council uniting the national communities of the town condemns this act of vandalism and calls upon the residents not to yield to provocation. The ethnic council expresses assurance that a thorough investigation will be carried out and the town authorities will give an impartial assessment of the event."



As director of the executive directorate of the Stavropol regional department of the Union of Armenian of Russia Eduard Kondyan said, the leaders of the Armenian national and cultural autonomy of Pyatigorsk informed that a relative appeal will be sent to the office of prosecutor. "Muslims have nothing to do with the incident. We watch the connection between the arson and act of vandalism in Budennovsk," he said.