Ruben Melkonyan: The change of ‘History of Armenian Nation’ to ‘History of Armenia’ is a manifestation of Turkish demands

When Armenia became independent, a number of terms and preconditions related to the recognition of Artsakh, the Armenian Genocide and the Treaty of Kars appeared on Turkiye’s agenda, Turkologist Ruben Melkonyan told Alpha News.

“When Armenia gained independence in 1991, a number of terms and preconditions appeared on Turkiye’s agenda, which were voiced at various levels, at state meetings, and in statements. Among them, the three most famous were related to the recognition of Artsakh, the Armenian Genocide and the Treaty of Kars, but there were many other preconditions related to the coat of arms of Armenia, Mount Ararat, the Declaration of Independence, the Metsamor nuclear power plant, etc. In this context, there were a lot of talks about the so-called Armenian demand or, as the Turks say, about the vision of Greater Armenia. One of their goals was to highlight the image of this Greater Armenia in textbooks, various scientific studies, etc.

Azerbaijan has the same complex, and after the occupation of Artsakh, we can see this in Aliyev’s speech and in how they react to maps and historical books that tell about Greater Armenia, Armenian history,” Melkonyan said.

The Turkologist is sure that the proposal to change the name of the subject “History of the Armenian Nation” to “History of Armenia” directly or indirectly shows Turkish terms and conditions.

“I do not know if those initiators are familiar with the Turkish requirements or not, whether they do it consciously or not. Calling the history of the Armenian nation the history of Armenia is wrong in itself. However, if this history is limited only to telling about the territory of today’s Republic of Armenia, then we can definitely say that this is a deliberate disregard for the brightest pages of Armenian history, which is one of the Turkish complexes,” Melkonyan concluded.