Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan does not intend to dismiss Shirak Governor Davit Arushanyan, who published a Facebook post referring to “Ivans.” The prime minister expressed hope that if anything careless had been said, it would be corrected, Sputnik Armenia reports.
Responding to greetings sent by representatives of the Strong Armenia party on the occasion of Gyumri Day, Arushanyan had written: “Gyumri is not your ‘Nizhny Tabor,’ and the people of Gyumri are not your ‘Ivans.’”
A journalist asked Pashinyan whether he intended to dismiss Arushanyan, who had been barred from entering Russia, and whether he was concerned that his own entry into the country might also be restricted.
“This is a situation that needs to be clarified and explained. Why are people so fond of ‘The Death of Kikos’? I cannot understand it. What if this happens, or what if that happens? The Good Soldier Švejk already answered questions of that kind. I have no other answer,” he stated.
The prime minister acknowledged that he was not fully familiar with the exact wording of the governor’s post but believed that the utmost caution was necessary in such matters.
“I think we must be as tactful and appropriate as possible. If something careless was said, I regret it and hope it will be corrected and resolved,” he noted.
The Russian Embassy in Armenia had earlier expressed bewilderment over certain expressions used by Shirak Governor Davit Arushanyan. In particular, the diplomatic mission drew attention to the governor’s reference to “Ivans,” noting that such language involuntarily evokes associations with the vocabulary used by German Nazis during the Great Patriotic War.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova also addressed the issue, stating that Russia expected an unequivocal and appropriate response from the Armenian authorities. She characterized the Shirak governor’s words as expressions of a “neo-Nazi nature.”
