A controversial monument to an Armenian nationalist who led a military unit that served under Nazi command in World War II was recently erected in the Armenian capital of Yerevan, and it has drawn international criticism in recent days.
The monument, whose unveiling ceremony was attended by the president of the Republic of Armenia, Serj Sarkisyan, on May 28, 2016, was erected in honor of Garegin Nzhdeh, an Armenian nationalist who participated in the mass murders of members of the ethnic and civilian Azerbaijani population in Zengezur (a historic Azerbaijani land, part of which was given to Armenia in 1920 by the then-Soviet leadership after ethnic cleansing of its dominant Azeri population by Armenian armed units).
The Armenian ethnic cleansing was conducted against Jews and other nationalities during World War II.
Nzhdeh (1886– 1955) collaborated with the Nazis and put the Armenian Legion, numbering some 30,000 men, at the disposal of the Nazi command.
The Armenian Legion operated both in the Crimean Peninsula and in the Caucasus region, fighting against the Soviet Red Army, while a detachment also fought in southern France against the Allied forces.
Nzhdeh and his military unit should be condemned for fighting together with the Nazis.
This monument is an insult to the victims of the Nazis and all those who fought against the Nazis.
Yesterday, the Armenian political leadership described Nzhdeh as “a national hero.”
An avenue, a large square and a nearby metro station in Yerevan are all named after Nzhdeh.
A village in Armenia’s southern Syunik province is also named after him.
Garegin Nzhdeh was the founder of the racist and chauvinist Tsekhakronizm doctrine, based on Nazi ideology.
Mehriban Samadova is the chargé d’affaires of the Azerbaijani Embassy in Mexico.