Picket against removal of Karl Marx monument scheduled in Rostov-on-Don for January 19

Activists of the local branch of the movement "Suts Vremeni" (Essence of Time) are going to hold a picket in Rostov-on-Don against the removal of the monument to Karl Marx and collect at least 300 signatures to the petition addressed to the Governor of the Rostov Region, Maxim Goncharov, the press secretary of the movement, has reported.

Earlier, the Armenian community Nakhichevanskaya-on-Don stated its plans to dismantle the monument to Karl Marx from the square of the same mane. Instead, the members of the community plan to erect a monument to Catherine II, which will be recreated in its original form and place.

Maxim Goncharov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the news about the removal of the monument to Karl Marx had incited enmity among various population groups. In his words, the values of a significant part of city residents were offended. Besides, the decision was made without public discussion and through ignoring the citizens'' opinion, who earlier spoke out clearly against removing the monument, said the press secretary.

The idea of erecting a monument to Catherine II, who allowed in the 18th century all the Crimean Armenians to move to the Don River, was first proposed back in the 1990s, the statement of the press service of the administration says.