Anahit Bakhshyan: Minister revealed the real purpose of authorities (video)
It is very bad that [Anastas] Mikoyan’s name is speculated to justify the crimes committed by other people, says Republican Party lawmaker Samvel Nikoyan. He advises considering public opinion before erecting a statue to the Soviet-era Armenian statesman [Anastas Mikoyan]. “If negative emotions prevail in the public, I think it would be better to review the decision,” he said. Sociologist Aharon Adibekyan says he has not received an order to conduct a public opinion poll. “If someone requests me to conduct a survey, I shall do it,” he said. However, he says there should be a statue to Mikoyan in Yerevan. “He was a man who cared for the well-being of the Soviet people and prevented a third world war.” Mr Adibekyan is not interested in the misdeeds of that man; the most important is that Yerevan should have its face and character. “If we want to make our country a tourist attraction, we had better forget everything else and say that he [Mikoyan] is the man who averted the third world war.” “What?” says Anahit Bakhshyan, a member of Yerevan Council of Elders, without concealing her surprise. “That man destroyed Eghishe Charents, killed the sons of Hovhannes Tumanyan, ceded Karabakh and Nakhijevan to Azerbaijan… Why should we erect a statue to him?” Ms Bakhshyan is amused by the words of Justice Minister who advised forgetting the mistakes of history. “I find it wrong to criticize our historical figures. Our past is already history, therefore I think we should not judge or criticize our historical figures. It is our history, and I do not want to express an opinion on history,” she said. Anahit Bakhshyan says with his statement the minister gave away the real purpose of the Republican authorities. “Now I understand the reasons behind the October 1999 parliamentary carnage. And today they want to erect the statue to return to that perverse system,” she said.
