"Heroization of Nazi collaborator Garegin Nzhdeh in Bulgaria will be an illegal, anti-Russian and anti-Bulgarian act"

Yestreday German publication Alumniportal Aserbaidschan published an analytical article by linguist Matthias Wolf on plans of Armenian diaspora in the Bulgarian city of Plisk to erect a monument to Nazi collaborator Garegin Nzhdeh. Author says that heroization of Nazi collaborators in Europe shouldn't be allowed.

He stresses that not all “political acts of solidarity”, even if they are approved by several states by mutual agreement, should be accepted unconditionally, and planned construction of the monument to Garegin Nzhdeh in Plisk is one of such cases, since this glorification, regardless of attitude of Armenian diaspora towards it, "has problematic undertone that cannot be hidden from the point of view of values of humanism and peaceful coexistence of people."

Matthias Wolf assesses Garegin Nzhdeh’s personality and his political goals in historical context of his time and ideology that he was guided by. “More specifically, it's necessary to clarify how big this man’s sphere of influence was and why his ideas were problematic from the point of view of our vision of peaceful coexistence of peoples. The following information is widely available: Garegin Nzhdeh (or Garegin Ter-Harutyunyan) was Armenian ultranationalist, inspired by the idea of creating of Armenian empire in the status of world power," expert points out.

Matthias Wolf noted that Garegin Nzhdeh proved himself as a terrorist back in those years, for which he was glorified by Armenian nationalists. "Glorification of Garegin Nzhdeh as a hero of Armenia seems problematic, since in 1918-1920, when Azerbaijan proclaimed its sovereignty and became the first democratic republic in the Muslim East, oppresion against Azerbaijani population took place under the leadership of Nzhdeh in Nagorno-Karabakh," he recalls.

"In addition, in the 1940s, when Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union and terrorized population of the Caucasus, among other regions, Garegin Nzhdeh worked on the side of Hitler. Based on ethnic aspect, Armenian collaborative forces sought to realize their dream of great empire and to cleanse it of Muslims, especially Azerbaijanis. All of this was based on Garegin Nzhdeh's ideology, "Tsegakronizm", which largely  consisted of racist elements. This racism was directed not only against Azerbaijanis, but also against Slavic peoples. We can see parallels with Hitler’s racial ideology, who saw the war against the Soviet Union as a “war for living space"," linguist said.

These facts about the personality of Garegin Nzhdeh and his goals make it possible to predict that appearance of a monument to this Nazi accomplice in Bulgaria, a European country, will give rise to a number of problems. “How will glorification of a man who also considered Slavic peoples to be "inferior" to be perceived in Russia? And won't it also offend Bulgarian people, since this is a monument to man who declared Bulgaria’s savior - Russia - an enemy of Armenia?" Author of the article asks key questions, emphasizing that this monument will jeopardize Russian-Bulgarian relations.