By Artak Khulian
YEREVAN (Azatutyun) — Hours after a harsh statement from Moscow regarding a passage in the new edition of an Armenian history textbook authorities in Yerevan announced that the text has already been edited.
The Russian Foreign Ministry stated on Thursday, August 15, that it expected the Armenian authorities to remove the term “annexation” used in the new 8th-grade history textbook in reference to the events in the South Caucasus in the early 19th centuries, when the territory of modern-day Armenia became part of the Russian Empire following the 1826-1828 Russo-Persian war.
“We expect that the Armenian authorities will not allow the transfer of such a textbook to schools and will not turn a blind eye to such unceremonious attempts to distort our common past,” the Russian ministry said.
Tamara Sargsyan, an official from Armenia’s Ministry of Education, told reporters on Friday, August 16, that a corrected version of the textbook will be distributed to schools. She said the disputed section will no longer use the phrase “annexation of Eastern Armenia to Russia.”
“It was proposed to revise that approach and the author has adjusted the wording to align with the curriculum for Armenian history,” Sargsyan said.
