Sochi authorities force Armenian community to demount monument to General Andranik

PanARMENIAN.Net - On May 28, a monument to General of the Russian army Andranik Ozanyan should have been unveiled in Volkonka settlement of Sochi, Russia. The event was dated to the Day of First Republic of Armenia. It was expected to bring together around 5,000-6,000 Armenians from Krasnodar region, Abkhazia, etc.

However, the local authorities have firmly hampered the monument’s unveiling and stated that Armenians will need to demount the monument, threatening that otherwise it will be destroyed by the authorities.

The authorities explained their decision by the fact that the monument’s unveiling may lead to Turkey’s refusal to participate in the Olympic facilities construction.

Armenia’s Consul Ararat Gomtsyan told Armenian public activists of Sochi region in a phone conversation that he is unable to do anything. He also advised to meet the authorities’ demands. According to representatives of the Armenian community, the decision was adopted even in Moscow, but not in the region and due to the efforts of Azerbaijanis.

It should be noted that this is not the first anti-Armenian action of the Russian authorities in Krasnodar region. “There is a certain policy of the Russian authorities towards the Armenian population,” reads a statement of the Armenian community.

General Andranik Ozanyan is Armenia’s national hero. He is one of the leaders of the Armenian national liberation movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is also a national hero of Bulgaria. He was one of organizers of Sasun and Zangezur defense.

On August 31, 1927, legendary General Andranik Ozanyan passed away in Fresno, California. His body was transported to France, and buried in the French Pere Lachaise cemetery. In 200, the government of the second independent Armenian Republic decided to relocate General Andranik’s remains to Armenia, where he received an honorable military reburial at Yerablur Pantheon.