By Lia Avagyan
Russian Ambassador to Armenia Sergey Kopyrkin has strongly condemned statements made by Artsrun Hovhannisyan, the former spokesperson of Armenia’s Defense Ministry, regarding World War II and Nazi Germany’s potential impact on Armenia.
In an open letter published on May 16, addressed to Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikyan, Ambassador Kopyrkin expressed his outrage over what he described as “historically false and sacrilegious statements” made by Hovhannisyan on Armenian Public Television on May 9, the day commemorating the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.
“Against the backdrop of deep respect for the Victory Day celebration among the Armenian people, the historically false and sacrilegious statements by the former official representative of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia, A. Hovhannisyan, with actual justification of Nazi Germany’s aggression, voiced on this sacred date on the country’s main TV channel, caused widespread indignation,” Kopyrkin wrote in his letter.
The ambassador expressed particular disappointment that such statements came from an individual who currently heads the Command and Staff Institute of the Military Academy of Armenia’s Defense Ministry, which bears the name of Marshal Baghramyan, a celebrated commander of the Great Patriotic War and twice Hero of the Soviet Union.
“It is difficult to assess this kind of act as anything other than an attempt to desecrate the memory of our heroic ancestors who prevented the implementation of Hitler’s plans to enslave and destroy the peoples of the USSR, as well as saved humanity from the ‘brown plague,'” Kopyrkin stated.
The Controversial Statements
On May 9, Hovhannisyan claimed on Armenia’s Public Television that Germany’s victory in World War II could have been an opportunity for Armenia. He called it a “myth” that the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942-43 served as salvation for the Armenian people by preventing Turkey from invading Armenia.
Hovhannisyan argued that Turkey at that time “had no significant force to attack and open a new front in the Caucasus.” He further claimed that Germany had plans to create a “united Armenia” or “historical Armenia” after taking the Caucasus and conquering Turkey, with Armenian legions to be formed from Armenian prisoners of war.
Hovhannisyan’s statements have sparked significant controversy in Armenia, with historians, public figures, and politicians condemning his views.
Historian Suren Manukyan responded that “Victory over Nazi Germany in World War II is one of humanity’s greatest victories, as there have been very few regimes in history that embodied as much evil as Hitler’s regime.”
Karpis Pashoyan, another historian and publicist, wrote that Hovhannisyan’s statements represent “cultural diversion, [which is] much more dangerous than Azerbaijani aggression, war, and even the loss of Artsakh.”
In parliament, Artsvik Minasyan of the opposition “Armenia” faction urged the Prosecutor General to conduct a legal investigation into Hovhannisyan’s statements, particularly regarding “actions aimed at justifying or mitigating the danger of the Nazi German regime and Hitler’s administration, which committed crimes against humanity.”
