Artsakh president`s defense lawyers file lawsuit against the Ministry  of Education and Science over defamatory content in History of  Armenia textbook

ArmInfo. The lawyers of Artsakh President Samvel Shahramanyan have filed a lawsuit on his behalf against the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports (MECS) of Armenia and other responsible persons for slanderous  statements contained in the textbook "History of Armenia" for the 9th  grade regarding the events around Artsakh from autumn 2020 to autumn  2023. As lawyer Roman Yeritsyan reported on his Facebook page, they  intend to demand a refutation of the false information about the  president contained in the textbook. In particular, as Yeritsyan  explained, we are talking about such formulations in the textbook as  "Samvel Shahramanyan signed a decree on the dissolution of Artsakh"  or "Shahramanyan is the one who surrendered the NKR." The lawyer is  confident that in this way the Armenian authorities intend to shift  responsibility for the surrender of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic to  the Artsakh leadership.

"We are determined to fight against all distortions of history and  attempts to mislead the new generation.  The people of Artsakh know  very well who betrayed our homeland and such formulations are  unacceptable for us. But if everything remains like this, then this  information will be passed on from generation to generation, and over  time it will be perceived as the truth. And this is in the case when  the authors of the textbook have never seen this decree. In addition,  the textbook does not contain any information about the events that  followed this decree, and there is not a word about the president not  having the authority to sign such a decree," Yeritsyan noted.

The lawyer also noted that the same textbooks will essentially be  used by Artsakh children who study in Armenian schools after the  forced displacement. Moreover, he reported that this year the  daughter of the president of Artsakh will go to the 9th grade. "And  the teachers will probably tell her that it was her father who  betrayed Artsakh," the lawyer complained.

In this vein, he also reported that the textbooks contain an  assignment that calls on children to correlate the name of Samvel  Shahramanyan with such expressions as "dissolution, surrender or  fall" of Artsakh. "We must fight against this, the defense has  already filed a corresponding lawsuit in court to refute the slander.   In addition, a lawsuit will be filed demanding that until the court  decides on this case, classes be banned in schools using these  textbooks. I am confident that the court will make the right  decision. However, I call on our compatriots, among other things, not  to remain silent and to fight against this using various methods. I  also appeal to Artsakh teachers who continue their work in Armenia,  so that they also be guided by reality, and not by the formulations  presented in the book," Yeritsyan urged.

Recall that the Armenian authorities initiated changes in the history  of the Armenian people despite public protest. Andreasyan ignored all  the comments of the country's scientific community. The latter  pointed out the presence of serious conceptual, methodological and  pedagogical problems in the newly-minted textbooks compiled by the  author, selected by the MESKS. They emphasized the need to create a  textbook not by one person, but by a group of experts specializing in  different historical periods. In addition, the prevalence of  hypothetical approaches in the text instead of relying on irrefutable  facts was noted.

The experts expressed the conviction that the Armenian authorities  are thus seeking to minimize the historical heritage of the Armenian  people. Renaming the subject "History of the Armenian People" to  "History of Armenia" was considered another anti-national initiative,  since the history of Armenia covers a wider spectrum, including the  history of the Armenian people from Hayk to Urartu, all Armenian  kingdoms and the rich history of the Armenian diaspora throughout the  centuries. While modern Armenia was formed only two centuries ago,  mainly as a result of the Armenian Genocide and the loss of  independence.