Baku, May 8, AZERTAC  

“The current government of Armenia, which calls itself democratic, should first of all dismantle the monuments to fascist executioners, Assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Head of Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration Hikmat Hajiyev told AZERTAC as he commented on the statement of the Armenian Foreign Ministry.

Hikmat Hajiyev said: “It is not the first time the community of World War II veterans of the CIS countries has raised the issue of the monument to fascist executioner Garegin Nzhdeh. A few years ago, Azerbaijani veterans sent a letter to veterans from the CIS countries in connection with the erection of a monument to fascist general Garegin Nzhdeh in Yerevan.

President Ilham Aliyev's well-known speech at the CIS Summit on 11 October 2019 in Ashgabat, was aimed at drawing the attention of CIS leaders to this issue. It is gratifying that the decision has been made to remove the memorial plaque to Garegin Nzhdeh from an area in the Russian city of Armavir occupied by the Armenian Church.

There is ample evidence that Nzhdeh was a fascist executioner. Garegin Nzhdeh, who was imprisoned by the Soviet Union for 25 years, was never acquitted. In May 2019, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a report “Regarding the situation with the glorification of Nazism and the spread of Neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to fuelling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance”. The report states that “the former ruling Republican Party of Armenia took steps to perpetuate the memory of such an ambiguous nationalist politician as Garegin Nzhdeh, for whom there is information on his collaboration with the Third Reich.”

Garegin Nzhdeh’s racist and chauvinist teachings form the ideological basis of Armenia's former ruling Republican Party. This doctrine, which stems from fascism and the racist Aryan ideology, is called Tsegakron (a racist combination of nationalist, religious and pagan mysticism), or Nzhdehism. Named “Nzhdehism”, this racist ideology was included in the curriculum of secondary and higher schools in Armenia, and the younger generation is still being educated in this spirit.

Under the leadership of Drastamat Kanayan, another fascist executioner known by the nickname of “Dro”, the Armenian legion took part in operations in Crimea and the Caucasus as part of the fascist army. There are monuments to Drastamat Kanayan in Armenia too. The National Institute for Strategic Studies of the Armenian Defense Ministry is named after fascist executioner Kanayan. The Armenian Defense Ministry has also issued a medal in honor of Kanayan.

The incumbent government of Armenia, which calls itself democratic, does not dismantle the monuments to Garegin Nzhdeh and Drastamat Kanayan. We do not believe the Armenian government will have the courage to do so. During the Soviet period and the years of independence, the Armenian government only had the courage to destroy historical monuments belonging to the Azerbaijani people in the historical lands of the Azerbaijani people, in the territory of present-day Armenia.

The Demirbulag Mosque in one of the medieval Azerbaijani cities of Irevan (currently Yerevan) was wiped off the face of the earth, while the Blue Mosque was “renovated” in order to change its original features. The destroyed architectural monuments include the Haji Novruzali Bey Mosque built by Gara Seyid in Yerevan in the second half of the 18th century and the Sardar Palace, or the Khan Palace complex. The Sardar Mosque in Yerevan was systematically destroyed and completely knocked down in 2014. Why doesn’t the Armenian public wonder why there is not a single historical monument in Yerevan? Because these monuments have been destroyed and all these are undeniable facts.

Also, the ancient and modern cemeteries of the Azerbaijani people in Armenia have been destroyed. The grave of Ashig Alasgar in Goycha district, the historical land of Azerbaijan, is among them. The names of historical Azerbaijani place names in the territory of Armenia have been changed and replaced with Armenian names. The historical names of the cities and settlements in Armenia must be returned.

As a result of the Armenian occupation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven adjacent districts of the Republic of Azerbaijan, seven villages of Gazakh district bordering on Armenia and the village of Karki in Nakhchivan, 738 historical monuments, 28 museums with more than 83,500 exhibits, four photo galleries, 14 memorial complexes, 1891 material and cultural sites and mosques, including 1,107 culture institutions, have been looted and desecrated.

On 8 May 1992, the city of Shusha, one of the cultural centers of Azerbaijan, was occupied by the Armenian armed forces. Immediately after the military operations, archaeological monuments such as the Upper and Lower Govharaga Mosque together with madrassas, the Vagif Mausoleum, Natavan's house and caravanserais, were destroyed, set ablaze and looted in Shusha.

All the territories of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia will be liberated, Azerbaijan will restore its territorial integrity and sovereignty within its internationally recognized borders, and historical justice will be restored.

As President Ilham Aliyev noted at the Summit of CIS heads of state, the new Armenian government, which introduces itself as being democratically elected, must first cleanse itself of this stain and disgrace and dismantle the monuments of fascist executioners.”