Several public organizations in Tomsk opposed the installation of an Armenian worship cross in the city center

December 19, 2011 in Tomsk in Bogoyavlensky square Cathedral was erected and consecrated worship Armenian cross (khachkar). The initiator of the installation of the cross, "a monument to Russian-Armenian friendship", was the Union of Armenians of the Tomsk region.

Shortly before the installation of the cross, representatives of several public organizations of Tomsk (movement "Sibiryaki", Pan-Slavic Youth Association, Congress of Russian Communities and "Tomsk Cossacks") sent a statement to the prosecutor's office demanding before installing Armenian cross to hold public hearings.

“ We were outraged that there were no public hearings on the khachkar the authorities decided not to hold , - said the leader of the movement "Sibiryaki" Lyudmila Strokova. - In addition, the administration of Tomsk could not at all comment on this topic. Members of the public called Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, but from there they were sent to the press service of the mayor's office, where they were told that they were not authorized to give any comments. Without waiting for an intelligible explanation, we decided to write application to the prosecutor's office .

Members of these movements also refer to the opinion of experts L. Pletneva and N. Tuchkova, who question "the expediency of installing a khachkar in the historical center of Tomsk", because, according to their information, " in Tomsk in fact, there are no memorable places associated with the presence of Armenians in Siberian / Tomsk history, and the presence of Armenians in the composition of the townspeople is recorded censuses since only the 1970s .” The experts proposed to establish a monument " in a place where there really is the presence of Armenians (for example, a bunch of Armenian cafes or other businesses with a noticeable presence of Armenians) ”.

The opinion was also expressed that "the monument-symbol will provoke conflict situations between Armenian and Azerbaijani diasporas of the city.

Sources

• Deputy Minister of Diaspora of Armenia will arrive in Tomsk for the opening of the monument of Russian-Armenian friendship // NIA-Tomsk. 2011. December 15.
• Public activists of Tomsk considered the installation of a khachkar illegal // GlobalSib. 2011. December 15.
• Tomsk authorities and representatives of the Armenian diaspora opened a khachkar in the city // FederalPress. 2011. December 19.