Yerevan Council of Elders member “Yelq” faction has made an initiative to rename those schools and streets in Yerevan, named after the Armenian Bolsheviks, Russian communists, by our national figures and heroes.
This proposal gave rise to discussions. If everyone is for the renaming of Leningradyan street or Anastas Mikoyan street, there are disagreements over renaming Kasyan street. For example, Amatuni Virabyan, director of the National Archive of Armenia, believes that Kasyan has done so much for Armenia, that if “Yelq” members live even for 100 years, they cannot do that much.
In interview with Aravot.am, Ani Samsonyan, a member of Yerevan Council of Elders, said, “What has Kasyan done? Why nothing is mentioned about what Kasyan has done in textbooks and in history?”.
In response to our remark, that according to Amatuni Virabyan, one must have a good command of history to know what Kasyan has done for Armenia, Ani Samsonyan said, “We are very well aware of the history, so well aware that we have made the decision that the streets should be renamed”.
When we said that Kasyan, besides being Bolshevik, was also an intellectual educated in Germany, Ani Samsonyan replied, “Maybe he was an educated intellectual, but history proves that Kasyan belongs to the number of people who ordered to kill and annihilate Armenian officers, to demoralize Armenian army, Armenian forces, so that they will not fight against Turks, and there are other similar facts in history. I think, those are enough. We have studied quite a lot, and we think that Kasyan belongs to those people the street after whose name should be renamed. First, generations do not know Kasyan, second, he was a Bolshevik figure, not an Armenian national figure, and he was not engaged in any activity favourable for Armenia”.
Ani Samsonyan said that at this moment they have initiated to rename Kasyan, Mikoyan streets and Leningradyan, but there will also be another list: “Still there are these three figures, after whom we think the streets should not be named. There are many other worthy people after whom there are no streets or schools and it’s a mistake”.
Ani Samsonyan said that they will also deal with the issue of naming the short street connecting Leningradyan to Isakov Avenue after Monte’s name: “Earlier, when the street was open, there was a sign that it was Monte’s street, then we do not know what happened, it was painted with white, and the name was covered. We will pay attention to it and look for those streets in Yerevan, that do not have names, they also must have a name. This is a complex job”.
Hripsime JEBEJYAN
