Zakharova Calls on Armenia to React to Shirak Governor

The Russian Foreign Ministry is calling on the Armenian government to respond to a statement by the governor of the Shirak region, Davit Arushanyan. Foreign Ministry official spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said so at a briefing.

Zakharova described Arushanyan's remarks as "crude and neo-Nazi". The statement in question concerns events held by the opposition movement "Strong Armenia" in connection with Gyumri Day, which the governor called "another political show". According to Arushanyan, Gyumri is not a Russian province and its residents are not "Ivans".

"Such blatantly crude and neo-Nazi appeals should have no place in any self-respecting society, let alone in Armenian society, which treats issues of history and its own past so delicately. We expect a relevant and clear reaction from the Armenian government," Zakharova said.

According to her, Arushanyan's statement is also offensive to the Armenian people, among whose representatives were Soviet Marshal Ivan Bagramyan and other well-known people who chose Russian names themselves.

Zakharova listed several of them: Admiral Ivan Isakov, Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union Ivan Tevosyan, painter Ivan Aivazovsky, jeweler Ivan Lazarev and Soviet intelligence representative Ivan Agayantsi. She also asserted that around half a million ethnic Armenians served in the Soviet army.