Russian State Duma condemns vandalism act on Garegin Nzhdeh memorial  plaque in Armavir

ArmInfo. The Russian State Duma condemned the act of vandalism on the memorial plaque of the hero of Armenia in Armavir.

So, first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs,  Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots, MP Konstantin  Zatulin, commenting on this act, said that the need to save or  dismantle the board should be resolved through internal Armenian  discussion without Russian participation.

According to Konstantin Zatulin, an act of vandalism committed by   the Armavir MP shows a situation where "a helpful fool is more  dangerous than the enemy." "Indeed, there are different opinions  about Garegin Nzhdeh, because the figure is contradictory for us. But  for the Armenians he remains a nationalist who has been fighting the  Turks all his life. Moreover, he rightly considered them guilty of  the genocide of the Armenian people during the First World War.  Therefore, he had a difficult relationship with the Soviet  government. The USSR then helped Turkey by rejecting one of the first  decrees from Turkish Armenia. But this refers to that period,  "Zatulin said in an interview with the Federal News Agency.

Nzhdeh really entered into a "certain kind of relationship" with  Germany, says Zatulin, but what is attributed to him is "complete  nonsense."

"Nzhdeh had nothing to do with the formation of military units of the  Wehrmacht. He was afraid that Turkey would sooner or later take the  side of Adolf Hitler against the USSR. As a result, the horrors of  the Armenian massacre in the Caucasus will be repeated," he  explained.

Nzhdeh cannot be a hero for the Russians, but "one must be a  thoughtless Russian deputy of the" Armavir spill "in order to come  and destroy the board in the Armenian church," Zatulin criticized the  act of the local parliamentarian.

"Not a Russian should speak out on this matter - if the Armenians  abandon Nzhdeh's memory, then it will be an intra-Armenian  discussion. And when we penetrate the church's territory, it does  nothing but harm international relations," he added.

First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Defense, MP  Alexander Sherin, shared his opinion about the situation, urging to  avoid double standards in assessing historical heritage and  monuments. He emphasizes that Armenians are co-religionists of  Russians, and Armenia is Russia's CSTO ally, therefore, officials  should be careful about the values of the Armenian people and condemn  manifestations of vandalism.

 " Armenians for us are co-religionists.. We also do not experience  the best times connection with attempts to split the Russian Orthodox  Church. It must be remembered that Armenia is a reliable friend and  partner of Russia. This is legally fixed, as Armenia has been a  member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization since the first  days of the founding of this international organization. ization ", -  the deputy said in an interview with news agency <realist>.  As  ArmInfo reported earlier, yesterday an act of vandalism was recorded  on the territory of the Armenian church in Russian Armavir, in  particular, member of the Armavir City Council Alexey Vinogradov  entered the church territory and painted a memorial plate to the  National Hero of Armenia Garegin Nzhdeh with black paint.  As  Vinogradov explained to the Russian media, he resorted to this step,  since on November 11, a two-week period had passed, during which the  regional and local authorities, as well as representatives of the  local branch of the "Union of Armenians of Russia" promised to  dismantle the plaque to Nzhdeh. Earlier, Vinogradov has repeatedly  stated that in case of failure to fulfill promises to dismantle the  board, he will resolve this issue himself.

To recall, earlier the Chairman of the State Duma Committee on CIS  Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots Leonid  Kalashnikov promised to make efforts to dismantle the memorial plaque  to Garegin Nzhdeh in Russian Armavir. He stated this in an interview  with one of the Azerbaijani media. "I intend to deal with this issue  personally. I will personally send requests and I will seek  dismantling.", Kalashnikov noted.  At the same time, representatives  of the Azerbaijani community of Russia demand that the Armavir  Municipality dismantles the memorial tablet in honor of Garegin  Ter-Harutyunyan (Nzhdeh), installed in 2012 in the territory of the  Armenian Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, at the  initiative of the Armavir branch of the Union of Armenians of Russia.   The small plate installed in Armavir in honor of Nzhdeh symbolizes  the Armenian national spirit. In addition to Nzhdeh, the sculptural  structure depicts Andranik Ozanyan (1865-1927) - an associate of  Nzhdeh, the national hero of Armenia, the general of the Russian  Empire, the leader of the Armenian liberation movement in the Ottoman  Empire and in Transcaucasia during the Civil War in Russia.  This  issue escalated after a verbal skirmish that occured between  Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol  Pashinyan in Ashgabat because of Nzhdeh.