Yerevan Council of Elders “Yelq” faction’s initiative to rename the streets and schools in Yerevan that are named after Russian communists, and Bolsheviks, has given rise to broad discussions.
As you know, “Yelq” has proposed to rename Leningradyan, Kasyan, and Mikoyan streets. According to “Yelq”, 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.
In an interview with Aravot.am, Director of the National Archive of Armenia Amatuni Virabyan said, “Kasyan has not ordered anything, Gevorg Atarbekyan has. Who was listening to him? He was against violence, while there was a group of Avis Nurijanyan, who was a military commissar and Gevorg Atarbekyan, who was the representative of the Emergency Committee in Armenia, they organized it. And it was organized in Moscow, Kasyan couldn’t do anything”.
Amatuni Virabyan mentioned that Kasyan was an intellectual, a scientist, who was executed in 1937: “So, they need to learn history, first, and only then speak such things about Kasyan”.
In response to the remark of a member of Yerevan Council of Elders “Yelq” faction, Ani Samsonyan, that there are facts about Kasyan’s order to demoralize Armenian army, Amatuni Virabyan said, “Those are forgeries, one should learn the history. The order, that they mention, was a forgery. I cannot say who created it later, but there is no such document in reality. Well yeah, Bolsheviks wanted Dashnaktsutyun to be defeated, and Armenia to become part of Soviet, that’s unequivocal, no one can claim the opposite, but any leaflets are later made forgeries”.
We asked whether he believes that Kasyan deserves a street in his name, Virabyan answered, “I don’t know who deserves, who doesn’t. Who is to decide? In history, you can find at least three facts about any person to abase. You cannot find a perfect holy, virtuous person throughout history”.
Hripsime JEBEJYAN
