World War II

In Turkmenistan, the former Soviet Union’s conflict with Nazi Germany is no longer “Great” nor is it “Patriotic.”

According to a report distributed by the opposition news website, The Chronicle of Turkmenistan, Turkmen leader Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has banned the use of the term “Great Patriotic War” in reference to the Red Army’s defeat of Nazi forces.

State-controlled Turkmen media outlets employed the term in their coverage of Victory Day commemorations this past May 9. But immediately after the holiday, news outlet received instructions from the Ministry of Culture to use the term “1941-1945 war” from now on to describe the Soviet-Nazi conflict, the Chronicle of Turkmenistan reported.

The report went on to quote some journalists who said that some television and radio broadcasts that had been prepared for broadcast before the edict was issued had to be re-edited before they could be aired.

The Great Patriotic War remains the most widely used term in the CIS to describe the conflict. The term was first used just days after Nazi forces invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941.

Moscow and Tbilisi may not be on speaking terms, but showbiz knows no borders. When Russia celebrated Victory Day on May 9, once more there was a Georgian singing a song written by a Georgian about a war victory presided over by a Georgian.

Moscow applauded; Tbilisi was appalled.

Keta Topuria, the lead singer of the popular Russian pop-band A-Studio, donned a Russian marine’s outfit, a beret with a hammer and sickle pin, walked to Red Square and sang an iconic Soviet war song, written by Georgian-born bard Bulat Okudzhava.

Topuria’s performance sparked a firestorm in Tbilisi. An upcoming concert in her native Georgia was immediately cancelled. “You do not dance and caper before the enemy,” bristled Georgian Culture Minister Nikoloz Rurua.

Georgian singers stood up for Topuria, saying that the concert was about defeating Nazi Germany and had nothing to do with the 2008 Georgia-Russia war. Post-war performances in Russia by other Georgian singers, such as international opera star Paata Burchuladze and veteran romantic ballad-singer Nani Bregvadze, have also raised patriotic eyebrows in Tbilisi.