BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 3. Vahan Kostanyan, Armenia's Deputy Foreign Minister and Head of the Armenian delegation to the 114th session of the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, has supported Garegin Nzhdeh, who collaborated with the fascist state and perpetrated crimes against humanity, TurkicWorld reports.
During the session, CERD rapporteur for Armenia, Yeung Kam John, mentioned that the committee caught wind of the installation of monuments to shadowy figures like Nzhdeh in the country.
John inquired about the extent to which Armenia’s educational curriculum encompasses all facets of history and fosters a climate of tolerance devoid of discrimination.
Kostanyan, aiming to show that Armenia is a land of acceptance grasped the intricacies of the matter and had to bite the bullet, acknowledging that the school curriculum is getting a makeover.
He tiptoed around Nzhdeh's name and couldn't dodge the fact that Nzhdeh was a fascist, claiming instead that this individual was a significant historical figure for Armenia and the Armenian people in the early 20th century, but not beyond that.
Not satisfied with this response, the rapporteur emphasized that the recent ceremonies held around such a statue indicated that the individual in question remains relevant to society today.
