Pashinyan has created an unnatural anti-Russian atmosphere in Armenian society –Boris Murazi

The authorities are fueling anti-Russian sentiments in Armenian society, Boris Murazi, editor of the Politik.am website, told Alpha News.

“Anti-Russian sentiments, fueled by the authorities, can take root and influence generations only through the education system. This was the first manifestation, which will continue. In the ‘Armenian History’ textbook, episodes related not only to Russians but also to Armenians were falsified. The author of the textbook defends these falsifications, claiming that they are historical facts.

He said that children need to be taught critical thinking. There is probably not a single school in the world where children are taught history in this way. History and history textbooks should help shape the mindset of generations,” he said.

Boris Murazi noted that even many supporters of the Civil Contract Party have anti-Turkish sentiments.

“Pashinyan and the Civil Contract are unlikely to succeed in bringing to Turkey a society that was formed on the basis of books published before 2018. Even the most ardent supporters of the Civil Contact have anti-Turkish sentiments. There is a sediment in some parts of Armenian society that cannot be cleared by daily propaganda in the media. Therefore, it is necessary to work on generations, starting from schools. Everything they propose may seem ridiculous. Let’s imagine that Russia says, ‘yes, we admit that we occupied you, and now we return you to a state before occupation.’ What will happen? Hundreds of thousands of Armenians moved here.

The people who returned to Armenia were deported by the Shah many years ago, and the Russians, in a sense, restored this demographic justice. How did it happen that on the Russian, so to speak, ‘occupied’ territory it was possible to create an Armenian state, but, for example, under Turkish or Persian rule, this was impossible?” Boris Murazi asked rhetorically.

He said that many years ago, Armenians preferred to remain Christians rather than be under the rule of any empire that professed Islam.

“What kind of occupation was it that led to the creation of statehood, to the construction of industrial centers in Armenia? In independent states, people are at the highest point of their development and have an independent state system. Surely, it was more preferable for the historical Armenian territories inhabited by Armenians to be under the rule of a Christian empire than a Muslim one.

Although at that time Persia had a slightly different approach to Armenians than the same Turks, in any case it was an empire belonging to a different religion, and it would have had its influence on Armenia,” Boris Murazi concluded.