Foreign

The President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev did not make any personal comment regarding Garegin Nzhdeh in his speech. His speech cited facts about Nzhdeh. It was interesting that in his speech, Ilham Aliyev quoted historical documents as well as historical documents of Russia.

These documents are a report by the Russian Foreign Ministry on the “glorification of Nazism in the post-Soviet space” and a 12-volume encyclopedia "The Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945", published by the Ministry of Defense. Azerbaijani President makes quotes from the encyclopedia, thus, in fact, expressing Russia's position on Garegin Nzhdeh,” Andrey Petrov, Russian political analyst, Deputy General Director of Vestnik Kavkaza news agency told APA’s Moscow correspondent.

He said that Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan did not expect Azerbaijani President’s such statement: “After the speech of Ilham Aliyev Pashinyan started to worry and attempted to evaluate the facts cited official documents as a position of official Baku. Therefore his speech was ridiculous. Being unable to respond to Ilham Aliyev’s speech Pashinyan quoted from the movie “Kidnapping, Caucasian Style”, supposedly, tried to make an impression that Nzhdeh is considered more fascist than Hitler in Azerbaijan. Although there has not been erected the monument of Hitler in any Post-Soviet area, but Nzhdeh’s monument exists- even in the capital of Armenia. Pashinyan tried to justify himself in his speech. The interesting point is that he had proved with his speech that he continues the policies of Sargsyan and Kocharyan who were in power before him, and who he currently is struggling against. However, he stated in his previous speeches that he would throw Sargsyan and Kocharyan to the margins of history. But now it seems that Pashinyan's policy does not differ from Kocharyan and Sargsyan's policies regarding the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and in relation of glorification of the Nazism. In the known report of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, all responsibility for the glorification of Nazism was assigned to the previous government of Armenia. In fact, it was a chance for Pashinyan. Russia thus made it clear that Yerevan should abandon the policy of the glorification of Nazism. But it is now clear that Pashinyan is a full-fledged follower of Sargsyan. This also suggests that the heroization of Nazism is the state policy of Armenia. Despite the fact that all countries, including Russia, officially recognized Nzhdeh as a supporter of the Nazis, Armenia does not attach importance to this fact, the Armenians consider Nzhdeh a national hero."

A. Petrov noted that in Russia for a long time there has been a struggle against falsification of history, especially during the Second World War: “Russia even has a Military Historical Society dealing with this issue. This organization implements various measures to prevent attempts to falsify history. One of the countries in the post-Soviet space where Nazism is heroized is Armenia. A monument in Armenia was erected to the fascist Garegin Nzhdeh. And most importantly, not only a monument, a bust has been erected in Armenia for him, a street and avenue is named in his honour.

Despite all this, Armenia, together with the CIS countries, signed documents against the glorification of Nazism and the falsification of history. These documents condemn the falsification of history and the glorification of Nazism. However, despite the signing of these documents, the monument to Nzhdeh has not yet been dismantled. It turns out that from a legal position, Armenia, by signing these documents, condemns its actions. The state policy of Armenia on the glorification of Nazism was confirmed once more by the statement of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, made at the summit of the CIS heads of states in Ashgabat. "

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