When the rest of
The airplane took off from Skavsta and the flight attendants asked
us to kindly switch off our MP3 players to avoid disturbing the aircraft
equipment. If this could really cause such troubles for the plane, I don’t
suppose the terrorists would need to think so hard if they try to hijack a
plane. A couple of hours later we landed in a small airport somewhere near
During our three hour road trip we passed through three countries:
We spent the rest of the day getting comfortable in our rooms, with each
other and the beautiful city. In the evening we were invited to an Armenian
owned restaurant where we ate, drank and sang. It was a pleasant evening, and
it turned to an even nicer one when we took a walk through the city full of
Christmas decorations. At the end of the long day, the only thing left was to slip
into the bed with the anticipation of the upcoming day.
In the morning the room service started knocking on every door to give
us breakfast; the choice was between croissant with chocolate filling and
croissant without chocolate filling. Afterwards there was some marmalade and
coffee and sadly for those with a preference for tea some chasing for the right
person was involved. After the breakfast we all gathered outside of the hotel
to start our march towards Esplanade du Cinquantenaire
to join the demonstration. Once there, we realized that we were the first to
arrive.
Eventually more and more groups arrived. Among the crowd one could see
many Belgians who wanted to show their support.
Several television channels had already put their equipment in place and the
special police force had encircled the square to protect us from the evil Turks.
Finally when the place was full, an army of flags from different countries were
flying together with our own Armenian tri-color. The Armenian music that came
through the loudspeakers was interrupted and a guy appeared on the stage to
present the speakers of the demonstration.
Speakers from different countries gave their speeches one after the
other in different languages. We had Melina Mansourian
and Rebecca Dison from
To stand outside in the freezing cold for hours should have paralyzed
everybody. But to stand there with masses of Armenians from different countries
inspired a mutual feeling that could warm up entire
The demonstration presented a number of pleasant surprises and speeches
and eventually approached its end - afterwards everyone was hungry. Those who
were ready to admit that they are hungry went to a restaurant in a group to
gain energy, as in the afternoon we had an important mission to accomplish. We
were given the chance to visit the office of the European Armenian Federation
for Justice and Democracy where we met the Chairperson Hilda Tchoboian and a number of other important figures. Having
seen her on the stage earlier, it was rather exciting to be able to ask her our
questions in a rather comfortable and relaxed environment. Everyone was
listening with great interest as Ms.Tchoboian
explained the dedication of E.A.F.J.D. to the Armenian question and encouraged
us to always fight for the truth. We left the office with great inspiration and
hope for justice.
In the evening we divided ourselves into groups, some went to look
around the city and others went to dance and have fun until late night. The
best part is everybody had fun. Early in the following morning, before the room
service would have the chance to knock on our doors we were already on our way
to
With humble regards,
Antranik Demirian
Sona Gevorgian