Moscow`s dual approach to Yerevan and Baku as a litmus test of the  real state of bilateral relations

ArmInfo.On May 6, the Russian  Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a report "On the situation with  the glorification of Nazism, the spread of neo-Nazism and other  practices that contribute to the escalation of modern forms of  racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance,"  the official presentation of which took place today and which  contains formulations not causing only bewilderment, but also  "laughter through tears."

So, studying the report on the part of  Azerbaijan, a number of questions arise. In particular, the report  points out that "Azerbaijan has practically no manifestations of  neo-Nazism, racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia, and the  leadership of Azerbaijan positions its country as a state of tolerant  living for representatives of various nations and religions." 

Such formulations addressed to dynastic Azerbaijan are not only  biased, but also distort the real situation in this area in  Azerbaijan, and the situation recorded by the Russian Foreign  Ministry and promulgated and commented by the official representative  of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova a few months earlier.  It was about the inadmissibility of the detention and expulsion of  Russian citizens on a national basis from Azerbaijan. Zakharova  qualified these actions of the Azerbaijani authorities against  Russian citizens of Armenian origin as a gross violation of the  rights of Russian citizens. "It is not the first time that we are  faced with a discriminatory ethnic policy towards citizens of the  Russian Federation. According to the Foreign Ministry, last year  (2018) there were at least 16 cases of denial of entry into  Azerbaijan on ethnic grounds. At the same time, Russian citizens were  detained for hours at the airport, then forcibly expelled from the  country. There was no official reason, "Ms. Zakharova criticized the"  tolerance "of the authorities of the AR at one of her briefings  earlier this year. Meanwhile, these circumstances apparently did not  completely embarrass the authors of the above report, who devoted a  whole "ode" to how well foreigners live in Azerbaijan.

Meanwhile, studying the report on the part of Armenia, one encounters  the dual formulation of "no obvious attempts to rehabilitate Nazism,  no splashes of neo-Nazi sentiment in Armenia." This formulation  leaves room for serious reflection, since, despite the fact that  Armenia is a mono-national state, there were still no manifestations  in the directions already mentioned above. However, continuing to  study the report, you begin to understand "where the dog is buried."  The authors of the report, in particular, note that the former ruling  Republican Party of Armenia has taken steps to perpetuate the memory  of "such an ambiguous nationalist political figure like Garegin  Nzhdeh, in respect of whom there is information about cooperation  with the Third Reich."

It is noteworthy that already the former vice-speaker of the National  Assembly of Armenia Eduard Sharmazanov, referring to the attacks of  the Russian side on this topic, has repeatedly stressed that Nzhde is  a national hero of the Armenian people, as well as Alexander Nevsky,  Alexander Suvorov, Marshal Kutuzov, Bagration are national heroes of  the fraternal Russian of the people: "And as a historian I want to  emphasize that Garegin Nzhdeh had no relation to fascism and Nazism.  Nzhde spent his whole life fighting for the freedom of Armenia. Nzhde  was not a Nazi, he is a patriot of the Armenian people and  speculation and this issue is inappropriate and unacceptable. "

Sharmazanov then reminded the Russian side that in 1939, USSR Foreign  Minister Vyacheslav Molotov signed a non-aggression agreement with  Germany, but no one considers him a fascist and nationalist.   "Everyone realizes that this agreement was signed from the interests  of the USSR and the Soviet people in order to prevent a possible  attack by fascist Germany. The same was true in the case of Nzhdeh,  he collaborated with Germany, and in case of her victory prevented a  possible attack on Armenia by an ally Berlin Turkey, "- said  Sharmazanov.

The report of the Russian Foreign Ministry also paid attention to the  Sasna Tsrer party, which is presented as a nationalist party. It also  indicates the presence of isolated cases of racism and xenophobia in  Armenia.  "Manifestations of racism and xenophobia in Armenia are  sporadic. Occasional cases of hostility by the Armenian population to  visitors from Iran and India are noted, most of which are related to  the inappropriate behavior of foreigners themselves. At the end of  2018. RA Human Rights Defender A.Tatoyan stated the increasing use of  the Internet to spread xenophobic sentiments in Armenia, motivating  this by aggravating the internal political situation in the country  on the eve of the parliamentary elections, " the  reports'  authors  state. 

Whatever it is, but in Armenia you will not meet announcements in the  press or in public places about renting an apartment to anyone, but  not , although such a nationality,  unlike the "Caucasian" one, does exist.

The manifestation of such double standards in drafting the report  raises many questions and, unfortunately, makes you think about the  quality of the Armenian-Russian relations, or about serious  procedural inconsistencies in the apparatus of the Russian Foreign  Ministry, or about the banal "caviar" diplomacy that also penetrated  thick walls of a grand "Stalinist skyscraper" on Smolensk Square.  We  also note that ArmInfo's attempts to get comments from a number of  Armenian political analysts on the content of the report were  extremely unsuccessful. Moreover, the agency deliberately refused  calls to pro- Western experts.