A BEAUTIFUL CITY AT THE EXPENSE OF STARVING FAMILIES: NO HOPE FOR YEREVAN KIOSK OWNERS (PHOTOS)
epress.am
08.16.2011
The only way to fight against the city’s decision to demolish kiosks
around Yerevan is round-the-clock protests, today said kiosk owners
who protested for 4 hours outside the Armenian president’s residence
on Tuesday.
During the demonstration, 5 representatives of kiosk owners, along with
supporter, head of the Heritage Party’s parliamentary faction Styopa
(Stepan) Safaryan, went inside the president’s residence, where they
handed over a letter they addressed to the president and met with
head of the RA President’s Control Service Hovhannes Hovsepyan.
The meeting lasted nearly 2 hours.
During the entire duration of the protest there were several police
vehicles, as well as several youth who informed the Epress.am reporter
on the scene that they don’t participate in protests, but what’s
happening outside the presidential residence is “very interesting”
for them.
A few of the youth refused to make contact with others and some,
seeing that they were being photographed by journalists, hid their
faces or left the premises for a period of time.
After the meeting between Hovhannes Hovsepyan and kiosk owners,
delegates left the building in apparently a bad mood, with one of them,
Mrs. Arevik, even having tears in her eyes.
Mrs. Arevik told Epress.am that they were told that Yerevan City
Hall’s decision cannot be disputed and Hovsepyan, according to the
kiosk owner, repeated verbatim Yerevan mayor Karen Karapetyan’s words,
that the kiosks have to be demolished in order to improve the city.
“And I told him, it’s very odd that they’re repeating the same thing
verbatim. It means that this decision was made at a high level –
that’s why all their remarks are as one. They want a beautiful city
– at the expense of allowing families to go hungry. I didn’t leave
Armenia even during the most difficult times, but I have no other
choice, I will be forced to leave, to go from here,” she said.
Speaking to Epress.am, Styopa Safaryan opined that RA President Serzh
Sargsyan is personally aware of the kiosks demolition issue.
“The head of the Control Service finds that the mayor’s decision is
right; he finds that Yerevan must be beautiful and improved. There’s
no solution to the problem, and they have no answer for the
consequences. I will permit myself to assume that all this is a
decision made at a high level; it’s not only the mayor’s decision;
I believe that the country’s president bears the responsibility for
this decision,” he said.