The existence of the object glorifying Nazi collaborator Garegin Nzhdeh on the Russian territory was a challenge for the whole of Russia, director of the Institute for Political Studies Sergey Markov told Vestnik Kavkaza, commenting on the destruction of the shameful memorial plaque commemorating Nazi collaborator Garegin Nzhdeh by deputy of the Armavir City Council Alexey Vinogradov.
“Vinogradov did an absolutely right and logical thing. Undoubtedly, Garegin Nzhdeh was an employee of the Nazi regime, engaged in the sabotage and terrorist struggle against the USSR, against our army. The erection of a plaque commemorating him in Armavir was connected with the Armenian community's socio-political influence, being an expression of its political irresponsibility and the highest degree of nationalism when cooperation with a monstrous evil is ignored," he said in the first place.
“Ataman Krasnov actively participated in the fight against the Bolsheviks, but then he collaborated with Hitler, so there are no monuments dedicated to him in Russia. An even stronger example is French Marshal Pétain, WWI hero who turned Nazi collaborator during the Second World War. France doesn’t erect monuments to him,” Sergey Markov pointed out, adding that Armenia's glorification of Nzhdeh seriously discredits it in the world community.
The director of the Institute for Political Studies is confident that the destruction of the criminal commemorative plaque bound to happen. “Not so long ago, more than 300 thousand signatures were collected for a petition against the heroization of Nzhdeh, round tables were held in the State Duma on this topic. If few people knew about this memorial plaque before, now it has become widely known and its very existence angered people," he said.
"Thank God that the plaque commemorating Garegin Nzhdeh in Armavir was covered with paint, they did the right thing. It is obvious that this plaqiue is a challenge to all of Russia as an expression of extreme forms of nationalism, when supporters of the nationalists seek to justify their any crimes. I think it is important to seek that this plaque has not been restored. It is also important to use fair public outrage in order to achieve the demolition of the monuments to Garegin Nzhdeh in Armenia either," Sergey Markov concluded.
