Varvara Markaryan, Associate Professor of the Department of Economics and Finance of the Krasnodar Branch of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Professor of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, full member of the Russian Academy of Geopolitical Problems.
Susanna Petrosyan, Chairman of the Artsakh Youth Development Center, Senior Lecturer at Artsakh State University, public figure, blogger, answered questions at a virtual press conference dedicated to Armenia and Artsakh in Virtual Discussion Club "Thought", on his discussion platform on the largest social network Facebook.
The Club administrator opened the virtual press conference Alexander Gulyan:
Good day Varvara and Susanna. The administration of our Club thanks you for accepting the invitation. Our Virtual Press Conference is taking place on the eve of the mournful date, April 24, the day of the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire.
And this was part of the Armenians’ path to independence and freedom. And we are waiting for your vision of the path and struggle of the Armenian people for the independence of Artsakh and Armenia in the answers to our press conference.
Varvara Markaryan: Hello, Alexander! Hello, dear friends! Thanks for the invitation. I'll be glad to answer your questions. The issue of restoring the statehood of Armenia and Artsakh is the most important, I am sure, for all Armenians.
Susanna Petrosyan: Hello, thanks for the invitation. The genocide of 1915 could have been repeated on April 2, 2016 in Artsakh, but thanks to the perseverance and courage of our soldiers, we managed to avoid a tragedy of this magnitude, although for us every loss is irreplaceable!
Pavel Khotulev: In my opinion, the solution to the Armenian issue lies in the development of Armenian-Kurdish relations. Question for both speakers: is it possible to create an Armenian-Kurdish federation or confederation in the future?
Susanna Petrosyan: Dear Pavel, in my opinion this is impossible, history shows that in difficult cases the Kurds do not support the Armenians, they have their own personal narrow national interests.
Varvara Markaryan: For many years, the Kurds as a whole people, both old and young, including women, have been fighting for their independence. If Erdogan had been a little smarter and given them basic autonomy in the territory of their historical residence, then these people would have laid down their arms and began to happily build their peaceful life. A confederation is not needed, but we would coexist peacefully with them.
Raisa: I would like to know how important is such a fact as recognition of genocide by Turkey for you and all Armenians in general?
Varvara Markaryan: Dear Raisa! Many of my colleagues and acquaintances tell me that I need to forget and forgive. First, they forgive those who ask for forgiveness. Secondly, how can we forget our history?
Yes, the issue of recognition of the fact of the Genocide and repentance of the modern government of Turkey, as the legal successor of the Ottoman Empire, is very important.
So that our historical monuments on the territory of modern Turkey are not destroyed or renamed. We need, first of all, historical JUSTICE.
Pavel Khotulev: In addition to the Armenian issue, there are also Kurdish, Talysh, Lezgin, and Greek issues in the South Caucasus and the Middle East. Perhaps some others. The Syrian Arabs can already be included here.
Varvara, is the solution to the Armenian issue being considered through the internationalization of opposition to Turkic aggression?
Varvara Markaryan: Pavel, yes, I am sure that only in the joint struggle of all peoples who are currently undergoing forced assimilation, a solution to the Armenian issue is possible.
If the Turkish government did not oppress national minorities, then the threat of Turkey's dismemberment and disintegration would be much less. But with his new Ottoman imperial ambitions, Erdogan is leading the country to collapse. The same can be said about Azerbaijan.
Pavel Khotulev: Varvara, will Georgia ever become an ally of Armenia?
Varvara Markaryan: We have always been allies in the fight against a common enemy. Now the leadership there has pro-Western forces, so at present our political vectors are in different directions. As soon as the Georgian people, by a majority vote, choose a different, correctly oriented leadership, everything will be as before - we will be brothers, friends.
Pavel Khotulev: Varvara, is a strategic union between Armenia and Persia possible without Russian participation?
Varvara Markaryan: Yes! They are our closest neighbors and have always helped us. During the years of the Genocide, when Christians were exterminated in Ottoman Turkey under the pretext of religious hatred, Persia accepted refugees..
And the head of their Muslims issued a firman “... to accept and provide all possible assistance to the fraternal Armenian people.” Armenians know how to be grateful. And they know how to punish traitors. God grant that Russia and I will always be on the same path. And together with Iran, we are a convincing force for ill-wishers
Pavel Khotulev: I have no doubt that sooner or later Kurdistan will be created and recognized. And it will be a state with its own open coast. It is possible that this will be the southern coast of the Black Sea.
Varvara, do Armenian strategists consider such a development of geopolitics and what can Armenians oppose to this if the option of an Armenian-Kurdish confederation is, in your opinion, impossible?
Varvara Markaryan: I think that our leaders will then need to sit down at the negotiating table and find a compromise option for both sides. There are no Kurds living on the southern coast of the Black Sea, as far as I know.
Therefore, they are unlikely to be given this territory. Kurdistan on the maps of the rebels themselves has different outlines.
Pavel Khotulev: The most effective measures are those taken preventively. Question for Varvara: what preventive measures are being taken by Armenia to sequester possible Armenian-Kurdish contradictions in the future?
Varvara Markaryan: I am sure that there are no contradictions and there will not be. Nothing deepens mutual understanding more than the image of an external enemy. In the past, yes, there were contradictions and enmity.
But every year at our mourning rallies on April 24, which take place all over the world, Kurds lay flowers with us at the memorials of the victims of the Genocide as a sign of solidarity.
In our city, the head of the Kurdish community more than once publicly, at a rally, repented, asked for forgiveness on behalf of his people for being with the Turks in 1915 and shedding the blood of Armenians.
Aram Astvatsaturov: Dear Susanna, not all Armenian territories have been liberated in the East of historical Armenian lands. Is there a possibility of liberation of the Armenian lands in the East of Artsakh and are there plans to return the Armenian population to their places of historical residence?
Susanna Petrosyan: Thank you Aram, you have raised a very important issue, unfortunately, the international community does not always pay due attention to this issue, in particular in the discourse on the return of lands, the issue of the return of Eastern Artsakh remains in the periphery, but for us, Armenians, this issue is extremely important and it will be resolved on the agenda of other issues to resolve the conflict through any efforts - peaceful or military.
Vladimir Glazkov: Susanna, what are the similarities and differences between the situations in the Republic of Artsakh and the Donbass Republics in your opinion?
Susanna Petrosyan: I have not studied the conflict in Donetsk and Lugansk. But, as you know, all conflicts are unique. The Republic of Artsakh was formed during the collapse of the Soviet Union on the basis of the same legislation that was used by other union republics to declare their own independence. Before the collapse of the USSR, Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) had the status of an autonomous region.
Over the past 26 years of independent development, citizens of the Republic of Artsakh were not only able to create effective state institutions, but twice (the 1992-1994 war and the April War of 2016) defended their right to live in their homeland, stopping the armed aggression of Azerbaijan against the self-determined NKR .
The Republic of Artsakh is an established sovereign state with a democratic system of governance. As an independent military-political factor in the region, Artsakh contributes to maintaining regional stability.
The security structures of the republic continue the policy of containing the enemy and suppressing Azerbaijan’s attempts to destabilize the situation in the South Caucasus.
The DPR and LPR were formed in completely different political conditions.
The newly formed republics are at the stage of formation and in a very difficult situation.
Vladimir Glazkov: Susanna, do you think Artsakh managed to defend its independence under the blockade? Isn't this independence in the hands of the Republic of Armenia?
Susanna Petrosyan: Artsakh defended its independence not only under blockade, but also under siege and war. The blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh, begun in 1988 by Azerbaijan, was partially eliminated in May 1992 by successful military operations of the NKR Defense Army.
Then a humanitarian corridor was created that connected Artsakh with the Republic of Armenia. Since the external borders of the Republic of Artsakh with Azerbaijan and Iran remain closed, integration processes are taking place between Artsakh and the Republic of Armenia in various areas.
It is not entirely correct to talk about Artsakh’s dependence on the Republic of Armenia. Most likely, Stepanakert and Yerevan follow common national interests.
Artemis Bogdanova: Varvara and Susanna, in Nagorno-Karabakh there was a Greek community and a Greek village. The Greeks left because of the war. These are relatively peaceful times. Are the authorities ready to take the Greeks back?
Varvara Markaryan: There is Eduardos Polatidis, the chairman of the Greek community of Armenia and Artsakh “Patrida”. He is in Artsakh right now, working on interesting projects to resettle the population in border villages.
Susanna Petrosyan: The small Greek community of Artsakh lived compactly in the village of Mekhmana in the Martakert region. At the invitation of the Greek side, many families moved to Greece.
The village of Mekhmana came under Azerbaijani occupation during the war. After the liberation of the village by the Artsakh armed forces, some families returned. The “Armenian-Greek Friendship Center” is registered and operates in Artsakh. If former residents of Artsakh of Greek origin wish to return home, I have no doubt that the authorities of the republic will provide their fellow citizens with the necessary assistance.
Maria Queen: My respect to the speakers and all participants in the conversation! I would like to know your point of view on the following issue:
What should be done, having a certain historical experience, at the level of the legislative and executive powers to prevent the occurrence of similar events in the current and future?
I think that in resolving any issues it makes sense to find the cause of their occurrence and deal with it, and not with the consequences in the form of genocide of a certain people, in this case the Armenians.
Varavara Markaryan: There is only one way to prevent such crimes against humanity in the future - the inevitability of punishment. The crime does not have a statute of limitations; successors must also bear responsibility.
It’s not for nothing that Hitler, when deciding on the mass extermination of Jews, uttered the sacramental phrase “.. in the end, who now remembers the Armenians?”.. (There are historical documents from German contemporaries on this matter). Punish so that no one else will be embarrassed.
Krivosheev Vyacheslav: Dear Varvara! The current agenda is formulated not only by politicians, but also by the intelligentsia. Taking this opportunity, I would like to receive first-hand information about the state of the Armenian intelligentsia. Who are the leaders of public opinion in this environment and who set the tone?
Around what and how is the humanitarian sphere organized: books, media, the Internet, art? On what ideas and in what environment does the intelligentsia develop: books, education or culture? What books are they reading, what are they publishing, what is available to the intelligentsia from the treasury of world and national culture?
Varvara Markaryan: Well, my answer on this topic can hardly be considered “first-hand” information. I was born, raised and live outside the territory of present-day Armenia. I go to my historical homeland about once a year, or more often, at the first opportunity.
I can only say that if in Russia, under the conditions of a market system, the intelligentsia’s life is difficult economically, many, unable to bear it, go “into business,” then one can imagine how much more difficult it is for them in a country that has been under blockade from its neighbors for more than 25 years .
Nevertheless, both guests and tourists admire Armenia. Not everyone knows how strong medicine is in Armenia, but those who have had to compare at least once go to Armenia for treatment.
Science, culture, and education have not yet given up their positions. This is the second time our university has held an international conference in Yerevan—we are going there one of these days. I'll definitely check out the bookstores.
Kahin Mirzalizadeh: The main problem of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is Artsakh’s legal status. And all the efforts of Baku are aimed at preventing even unofficial recognition of the NKR.
In this context, isn’t it strange that Armenia still does not officially recognize the status of the NKR, thus legitimizing not only the citizens of the NKR (without the need for a second passport), but also protecting the same guests of the NKR?
Moreover, recognition of NKR independence (at least by Armenia) will make the country a full party to the negotiation process. What is the reason? If Armenia itself cannot decide to recognize the independence of the NKR, how can it be expected from others?
Varvara Markaryan: Armenia is a party to the negotiation process; if it recognizes the NKR, it will withdraw from this process, and the NKR will not gain anything from this, since being recognized only by Armenia, it will again not receive the right to be a full-fledged party to the negotiating table.
Kahin Mirzalizadeh: Are you afraid of an “open full-scale war,” dear Susanna?
Susanna Petrosyan: Dear Kahin, these are all just political games in which everyone plays their role, as for whether I am afraid of war or not, I will answer. From 11 to 14 years old I grew up in war conditions, I saw everything - hail, guns, planes, bombs, blood, crying, corpses, etc., and at the same time I saw tears of joy, laughter, songs, dances, victory toasts... today I have 4 children, and I am sure that they and their children and all my offspring will live on this land, because what is from God cannot be taken away from us by anyone, this is our sacred land and every Armenian is to the last drop of blood will protect her... this is our past, present and future!
My sons will be defenders of the Motherland, my daughters will serve their husbands for the good of the Motherland, this is what everyone living in Artsakh thinks, it’s not for nothing that our symbol “We are our mountains”, we cannot be separated from our roots, from our mountains!!!
Karen Aghabekyan: I have a question about the position of Armenia and Artsakh on the issue of a peaceful resolution of the conflict, based on Madrid principles. The fact is that, as we know, Artsakh fully trusts Armenia and has actually transferred the right to conduct negotiations, which, as we know, are based on the Madrid principles.
The main points in the Madrid principles, one of the conditions is also the surrender of territories to the so-called “security zone”. Now the question is, how do you see this issue of surrendering territories in exchange for peace?
And the second question is why Armenia and Artsakh do not have a claim against Azerbaijan regarding the territories of Northern Artsakh, more precisely where Armenians lived and were illegally deported from the Shaumyan, Khanlar, Shamkhor, Dashkesan regions, why is this issue not mentioned at the negotiations?
Susanna Petrosyan: Dear Karen, the Madrid principles, “Lavrova” and other documents are a thing of the past, there can be no talk of surrendering territories...
All these and similar issues can only be resolved by the people of Artsakh, who live in these territories... as for Eastern Artsakh and refugees from other territories, you are right, the world community is turning a blind eye... but these are all questions of time, justice will soon prevail, because the Lord is side of the just!
April 22-23, 2017.
On April 24, Armenian communities around the world commemorate the victims of the genocide that killed one and a half million people, approximately a third of the nation at the time. Of course, there is a lot of conditionality here. Firstly, when the extermination of Armenians unfolded in the Ottoman Empire, the concepts genocide didn't exist yet. But the Polish Jew Raphael Lemkin, who later coined the term and introduced it into international legal use, had as a fundamental example the extermination of the Turkish Armenians. Conditionally, secondly, the number of victims. Researchers take into account various sources; It is hardly possible to reduce dissimilar terms to a single answer. Thirdly, it is conditional that casualties usually include only human losses. But the Armenian people also lost their ancestral territory, on which they were steadily formed by the last centuries of the pre-Christian era. Geographical symbols and shrines - Ararat, Lake Van - were taken away from him by superior force. He lost thousands of man-made monuments, the first being architectural - fortresses, churches, khachkars. Countless manuscripts, manuscripts, church and book paintings disappeared irretrievably. And finally, the day of remembrance of the victims itself is conditional, because genocide is not a one-time event. The executioners could not complete their tedious work in either a week or a year. Historians date the Armenian catastrophe to 1915−1923, some insist on a broader scope: 1893−1923. And in fact, the waves of pogroms, subsiding for a short while, rolled for decades across the Armenian Highlands, which occupied a good quarter of the vast Ottoman Empire, and across its other cities and villages - Armenians, where more and where less, lived in almost all its ends. By the way, the geographical name itself—the Armenian Highlands—becomes a victim. They are persecuting him with persistence and anger, replacing him with the much more uncertain Eastern Anatolia.
The “broad” dating is easy to confirm. Peculiar milestones of the Great Massacre are the publications dedicated to it in different countries: the monumental Russian volume “Brotherly assistance to the Armenians who suffered in Turkey” (1897 and 1898), the American “Red Book” (1897) with the subtitle “The last holistic and accurate assessment of the massacre by eyewitnesses”, French two-volume “Yellow Book” (1897). And in the next century: the “White Book” (1904) - mainly British diplomatic messages, the “Orange Book” - one and a half hundred documents (1912-1914) of the Russian Foreign Ministry, the London “Blue Book” (1916) by James Bryce...
So April 24 is, no doubt, a conditional date. But for several hundred Constantinople intellectuals - doctors, writers, lawyers, architects - this particular day became fatal, and only then did it turn into a symbol. The arrests, it’s easy to guess, took place at night; While foreign diplomats and correspondents were figuring out what had happened, the intelligentsia, taken from pre-compiled lists, were sent into exile, to remote places far from the capital. Almost none of those deported survived. Perhaps the only exception was Komitas, a musician with a European name. Having heard his lecture and concert in Paris, Claude Debussy said about one folk melody he arranged: “If Komitas had not created anything else, he would have left his mark on art.” In an attempt to hush up the scandal, the composer was returned home. But what he experienced side by side with the others forever clouded his mind; he died twenty years later in France, in a mental hospital...
Among the dead were many writers, publishers, and journalists. Let's limit ourselves to just one name - lawyer and prose writer Grigor Zohrab. Neither membership in the Ottoman parliament, nor even close acquaintance, in fact, friendship with a member of the ruling triumvirate, Talaat Pasha, saved him.
A particularly heavy blow fell on poetry. Its prominent representatives Siamanto, Daniel Varuzhan and Ruben Sevak were killed in exile. If we remember that during the years of great terror in Yerevan, the greatest poet of that time, Yeghishe Charents, and the greatest prose writer, Aksel Bakunts, died, then the repressions caused unprecedented damage to Armenian literature. By the way, just as Stalin’s terror of the 30s is often said to be the thirty-seventh, in the same way the Armenian tragedy is often briefly referred to as the “genocide of the fifteenth” or simply “the fifteenth.”
And everything is clear to everyone.
11:39 — REGNUM
Today, April 24, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, in connection with the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Genocide, visited the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex and paid tribute to the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide: the President laid a wreath at the memorial and flowers at the eternal flame in memory of the innocent victims of Mets Yeghern.
After the ceremony, as stated in a statement from the presidential press service, Serzh Sargsyan also visited the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, examined the unique exhibits dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the independence of the Republic of Armenia, the temporary exhibition “From Yeghern to the Restoration of Independence” and exhibits intended for the exhibition dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the construction of the Armenian Genocide memorial complex.
In connection with the day of remembrance of the victims of the Armenian Genocide, Serzh Sargsyan delivered a traditional message, which reads:
“Today is April 24 - Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Armenian Genocide. We invoke the memory of our holy martyrs. The massacre, carried out under the pretext of resettlement, was a state plan of the Ottoman Empire, which was carried out with exceptional, unprecedented cruelty and tenacity.
On April 24, 1915, Armenian history, going back thousands of years, was divided in two: before this tragic date and after it. The fragments of the miraculously saved Western Armenians scattered throughout the world, becoming the Armenian Diaspora.
The material, cultural and political losses of the Armenians are immeasurable, but the greatest loss is the people who were the bearers of an ancient, rich and original civilization.
It is our duty, the living, not only to remember and respect them, but also to live, work and fight with redoubled energy, also for them. Live, work and fight with a life-affirming worldview, believing in goodness, humanity and justice.
More than a century has passed since that monstrous date of 1915. We know what we have gone through during this time and we know that we have conquered death. The heroic Artsakh struggle is evidence that we will not allow a new genocide. We will never allow it again!
The revival of the Armenian people is a reality, and this became a reality thanks to the descendants of the surviving people. The restoration of Armenian statehood in their native land became a reality thanks to these descendants, the revival of Armenian culture and science became a reality thanks to these descendants.
During this time, we have given the world a whole constellation of creative geniuses. Also, through the great Armenians, the world learned what happened to us and learned that they are the descendants of a people who were on the verge of destruction.
I list all this to emphasize the gigantic vital and creative potential of our people and my unshakable faith in our capabilities and in the future. Yes, in 1915 we found ourselves in hell, but if on the way back to life we found the strength for great achievements, then in the conditions of an independent state in the 21st century we will be able to do more.
Today, April 24, on the day of remembrance of the victims of the Armenian Genocide, we will climb the Tsitsernakaberd Hill or visit other monuments in different settlements of Armenia and abroad. Let us remember that this annual procession is a procession of a reborn people who have not forgotten what they left behind, but look forward with confidence.”
Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day is observed annually on April 24 to commemorate the victims of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire. The systematic extermination of the Armenian population in Ottoman Turkey began at the end of the 19th century, and April 24 was chosen as a memorial date because it was on this day in 1915 that more than 800 representatives of the Armenian intelligentsia were arrested and later killed in the Ottoman capital of Istanbul. Thus, the Armenian people, most of whom at that time lived in Western Armenia, lost most of the intellectual elite. This event was followed by a series of brutal killings and evictions of ethnic Armenians, called the Armenian Genocide.
Traditionally, on this day, millions of Armenians and sympathizers of other nations in different countries of the world pay tribute to the victims of the Genocide, which claimed the lives of about 1.5 million Armenians, or about half of all Armenians in the world at that time.
The survivors were mainly Armenians of the Russian Empire, as well as Armenian refugees in third countries...
The Armenian genocide was organized by Turkish rulers with the support of Imperial Germany and with the connivance of Western countries. Professing the ideas of pan-Turkism and pan-Islamism, the Turkish authorities sought not only to preserve the Ottoman Empire and forcibly destroy or assimilate the subject population, but also to create an all-Turanian empire that would include all Muslims.
On April 24, 1915, the first group of Armenian intelligentsia was arrested. Numerous arrests followed. In a short period, the number of those arrested reached about 800 people, including writers, scientists, art critics, teachers, actors, doctors, priests, public figures, as well as Armenian deputies of the Turkish Majlis (parliament). They were all driven to Anatolia and brutally killed.
As a result of the genocide of 1915, about one and a half million Armenians were killed, and the entire Armenian population of Western Armenia was deported from their lands.
And they didn’t just cut them out - they killed them sadistically, burned them alive, tortured them...
Unfortunately, the Russians were unable to prevent the terrible massacre that the Turks carried out in 1915, when the signal for the killings was given in Zaytun, on April 24, 1915.
However, already at the beginning of these disasters, on the personal order of the Sovereign Emperor Nicholas II, Russian troops took a number of measures to save the Armenians, as a result of which, out of the 1.651 thousand souls of the Armenian population of Turkey, 375 thousand were saved, that is, 23%, which in itself is an extremely impressive figure.
Let us now turn to the Armenian source and see how this salvation took place. G. Ter-Markarian, in his work “How it all happened,” speaking about the terrible crime, the Turk wrote:
“For the sake of historical justice and the honor of the last Russian Tsar, one cannot remain silent that at the beginning of the described disasters of 1915, on the personal order of the Tsar, the Russian-Turkish border was slightly opened and huge crowds of exhausted Armenian refugees who had accumulated on it were allowed onto Russian soil.
Eyewitness stories have been preserved about the heartbreaking scenes that unfolded, about unforgettable manifestations of immense joy and tears of gratitude on the part of the sufferers who fell on the Russian soil and kissed it frantically, about bearded Russian soldiers who bashfully hid their tear-moistened eyes and fed the starving Armenians from their kettles. children, about mothers who kissed the boots of Russian Cossacks, who took one or two Armenian children into the saddle and hastily took them away from this hell, about old people weeping with happiness, hugging Russian soldiers, about Armenian priests offering prayers with a cross in their hands, baptizing and blessing the kneeling crowd.
Right at the border, right in the open air, many tables were set up, at which Russian officials received Armenian refugees without any formalities, handing over a royal ruble for each family member and a special document that gave them the right to freely settle throughout the Russian Empire for a year. using all types of transport free of charge. Here, feeding hungry people from field kitchens and distributing clothes to those in need was established.
Russian doctors and nurses distributed medicine and provided emergency care to the sick, wounded and pregnant women. In total, more than 350 thousand Turkish Armenians were then allowed to cross the border and find refuge and salvation in Russia."
And a view from the Armenian side.
ARMENIANS REMEMBER THE MERCIFUL ACT OF THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA
Of great importance for us is the article by Pavel Paganuzzi “Emperor Nicholas II - the savior of hundreds of thousands of Armenians from the Turkish genocide”, published in the pages of the magazine “Motherland” (1993. No. 8-9). There is only one thing that Pavel Paganuzzi is wrong about - that “no one, either before or now,” remembered about salvation. The Armenians have not forgotten anything. The act of royal mercy forever entered the national consciousness of the Armenian people. It is enough to note that even in the harshest years of Stalin’s despotic regime, many Armenians, especially refugees from Western Armenia, named their sons Nicholas in honor of the emperor.
The armed forces of Soviet Armenia began to be organized on a new basis. However, this process did not last long - only 8 days. On December 10, 1920, widespread arrests of generals and officers of the army of the Republic of Armenia began. In two months, 1,400 people were arrested. At the end of February 1920, 840 of them (including 13 generals, 20 colonels) ended up in a concentration camp in the city of Ryazan, including 67-year-old General Bazoev.
Being far from his native shores, Staff Captain Farashyan did not stop talking about the humane act of the Russian Tsar towards the Armenians. The State Archive of the Ryazan Region (GARO) contains documents in which a special department of the XI Red Army and a special unit of the concentration camp characterize Farashyan as an obvious monarchist. Even in the camp he did not part with portraits of the king. As stated in the denunciation of the sex agent (the name is on file), “Farashyan considers himself not temporarily detained, but a prisoner of war. Therefore, he has the right to keep a photo of the king in his pocket. He considers the murder of the king to be the crime of the century” (see GAYU. Φ. R-2817. On. I. D. 198). Farashyan retained the nickname “monarchist” while he was in the camp. Together with other officers of the army of the Republic of Armenia, Farashyan was released from a concentration camp a few years later, but in 1936 he again found himself in the dungeons of a terrorist dictatorship as a dashnak, although he was never a member of any party.
This is how the martyrs of the twentieth century lived, suffered and died - the noble sons of the Armenian people. As for the act of mercy of the Russian Emperor, it will be received with gratitude by those Armenians who could not have known about it before publication on the pages of the Rodina magazine. I am absolutely sure that the day is not far when a majestic monument - a Khachkar - will be erected on the territory of the revived Republic of Armenia in honor of this act of His Imperial Majesty Nicholas II. As history shows, Armenians know how to be grateful. They don't forget the good.
GULAB MARTIROSYAN,
Associate Professor of the Ryazan Radio Engineering Academy, Chairman of the Board of the Ryazan Armenian Cultural Society "ARAKS"
May God rest the innocent.