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Hotel Violence Against Russian, Armenian Tourists In Turkey

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  • Hotel Violence Against Russian, Armenian Tourists In Turkey

    HOTEL VIOLENCE AGAINST RUSSIAN, ARMENIAN TOURISTS IN TURKEY

    news.am
    July 27 2010
    Armenia

    An Armenian tourist who plans to spend his holiday in Turkey is
    offered Mediterranean beaches, five-star hotels, perfect pastime
    and vivid impressions. Believe us, vivid impressions are guaranteed,
    whereas the desired blue water and five-star hotels are only a dream.

    The Saranjyans, who recently returned from Turkey, met with a NEWS.am
    correspondent. Below is a story told by the housemother Lianna Mamayan.

    "The doctor advised a rest by the sea for my younger son's health. We
    decided to go to Turkey. We applied to the Tez Tour travel agency. We
    preferred the Aventura-park five-star hotel in Alanya. We paid U.S.

    $4,000 for four and insured ourselves. On July 6 we went to Alanya
    and on our way there we knew from our companions that we were the
    only family to stay at Aventura-park. I was a little worried -
    I thought it would be better for us to have our nationals with us,
    because we were going to Turkey.

    "In short, our family went to the Aventura-park hotel. It was claimed
    to be a five-star hotel. The same information was on the Internet.

    However, an unbiased ranking would not even rank it among 3-star
    hotels. The seashore was dirty and we knew that the sewage was flowing
    into the water for swimming. To switch on the air conditioner we had
    to have a deposit, the linens were dirty. We 'enjoyed our holiday'
    this way until July 16, when we had an incident no tourist in any
    civilized country would meet with. First of all, the male personnel
    were going beyond all the bounds in dealing with women, especially
    Russian women - no matter they were with their friends or even married.

    "We had the impression that the hotel staff did their best to please
    the hotel owner and his son. The girls they struck up acquaintance
    with were seen in company with the hotel owner and his son the same
    evening. Two girls from Russia, one of them an Armenian girl, were
    staying at the hotel with us. The hotel staff members tried to strike
    up acquaintance with them, but were turned down. On July 16, the girls
    were sitting at the table in the lounge. They were working on their
    laptop. Waiters approached their table and pulled the cloth off the
    table so that the laptop nearly fell on the floor. The girls reproved
    the waiters, but they got into an argument and told the girls to 'shut
    up.' Four young men from Russia were sitting at the next table - two
    of them Armenians. They tried to find out what had happened. In answer,
    Turks used foul language, and there was a scuffle. The security guards
    did not do anything to part the sides. All the male staffers attacked
    the four boys and beat them up in everybody's presence. At last, some
    of the holiday-makers interfered and parted the sides. The young men
    were taken to one of the lounge bars.

    "At that moment, my husband and I were coming back to the hotel
    and tried to get in touch with our elder son Hovhanes. At that very
    moment, Hovhanes returned to the lounge. The four young men, who had
    made friends with him before, asked him to bring their mobile phones.

    One of the hotel staff members hit Hovhanes with his shoulder and,
    turning back to him, insulted him. Hovhanes said he was careful,
    but the Turk began to push him. There was a fight, and 20 people
    beat up my son. A Tatar man from Russia tried to help Hovhanes rise,
    but the Turks attacked the man, beat him and broke his ribs. When
    I saw Hovhanes after the scuffle, I could not recognize my son. His
    face was swollen even after we washed the blood off. When my husband
    Artur tried to find out what had happened, about 20 hotel staffers
    took him and his friend Khachik out of the building and beat them
    up. One of the staffers took out a knife, another sprayed tear gas.

    "The nightmare lasted for three hours. I could not turn to anyone for
    explanations. There was an Armenian woman from the United States with
    us. She spoke Turkish. I asked her to talk to the hotel owner. I told
    her that the hotel personnel were outraging, and we would complain.

    'Who are you going to complain to? I have no problems in Alanya.

    Complain to whoever you want,' the owner said. When he knew we were
    from Armenia, he was filled with disgust.

    "A Tez Tour agent arrived at the hotel. He could not do anything to
    calm down the hotel staffers who were in the 'heat of passion.' I told
    him Hovhanes needed medical aid. He had been stuck on the head. The
    agent told me he could not get in touch with Armenia to specify the
    insurance. He told me to get in touch with Yerevan myself. I showed
    him the documents proving the insurance, but that did not help.

    "Toward midnight Turkish policemen arrived and arrested the four
    Russian young men, my husband and Khachik. They came to our room to
    arrest Hovhanes. I thought it was a nightmare.

    "I told the Turkish policeman he could not arrest my son, who was
    under age. He was saying something in Turkish, moving forward to put
    handcuffs on Hovhanes. I lost my nerves. I began to shout at him,
    saying I would sue him and all police for illegally arresting innocent
    persons, whereas those guilty were walking about the hotel. I told
    him that arresting a boy under age was a crime.

    "At last I told him to arrest me and my 11-year-old son because I was
    not going to leave my children alone. The policeman looked at me and
    left the room.

    "My husband and Khachik did not stay at the police station long. The
    Tez Tour agent went to the police station and talked to them, asking
    them to release Artur and the other arrestees. They were released, but
    the policemen tried to trump up charges against the four Russian boys.

    They were charged with starting a drunken brawl. I do not know how,
    but Artur and his friends persuaded the policemen to release the boys.

    "I had never felt so helpless and lonely. I could not hold back my
    tears after we came back. The group members asked me about what had
    happened, and I told them.

    "At that moment a woman said: 'They should have behaved themselves,
    nothing would have happened. I have spent my holiday in Turkey for
    five years, and nothing like that has ever happened to me. Let them
    set normal prices in their Armenia, and I will spend my money there.

    "I was stunned. There was no point in answering. But our family
    decided to never visit Turkey again."

    P.S. NEWS.am reminds readers that Armenia and Turkey have no diplomatic
    relations, and Armenian citizens are defenseless in case of any legal
    or other problems.




    From: A. Papazian
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