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Armenia and Serbia have much in common, but unlike the Serbs, the Armenian people are much more united, world-famous Serbian filmmaker and actor Emir Kusturica told reporters in Yerevan today. He said he is delighted to be in Armenia.

In his words, the Armenians are more united and able to close ranks – unlike the Serbian people who were subjected to massacres, but are disunited. Besides, the world knows the Armenians as a nation that survived the Armenian Genocide.

“And you have statehood that organizes a collective response to all this,” Kusturica said stressing that he is familiar with the history of Armenia and the Armenian people.

According to the filmmaker, when he was on a visit to Turkey a few years ago, he was told there that he was an ‘undesirable person’ because of his position on the issue of ‘genocide’ imputed to the Serbs.

“I replied: It is not for you to express concern about genocide – it was you that exterminated 1 million 200 thousand people during World War I. I left that country and learned later that a Swiss director who looked like me was beaten up there. In other words, they give an instinctive response,” Kusturica said.