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YEREVAN MAYOR [AKA "CHORNI GAGO"] RESIGNS OVER ASSAULT
Ruzanna Stepanian
http://www.armenialiberty.org/content/article/2242752.html
08.12.2010
ARMENIA -- YEREVAN MAYOR GAGIK BEGLARIAN.
Yerevan's controversial Mayor Gagik Beglarian was forced to step down
on Wednesday after reportedly beating up a member of President Serzh
Sarkisian's staff. (UPDATED)
The resignation was announced by the Mayor's Office just hours after
Sarkisian effectively confirmed and condemned through a spokesman
Beglarian's involvement in the assault on Aram Kandayan, an official
at the presidential administration's protocol unit.
According to media reports, Kandayan incurred the ire of Beglarian
after asking the latter's wife not to sit next to Sarkisian during the
November 3 concert in Yerevan of Placido Domingo, the world-famous
Spanish tenor. Such seats have traditionally been reserved for
Armenia's prime minister, parliament speaker and the supreme head of
the Armenian Apostolic Church.
Armenia -- The wife of Yerevan Mayor Gagik Beglarian (L) at a concert
of Spanish tenor Placido Domingo, 3Dec2010.
Beglarian, who did not attend the concert, allegedly drove Kandayan
to one of his properties in Yerevan and beat up the young official
there the next day. Reports claimed that Sarkisian was infuriated by
the incident and demanded an official apology from the mayor.
"Unfortunately, an incident did take place," the presidential press
secretary, Armen Arzumanian, told RFE/RL's Armenian service. "But the
media have exaggerated it. In particular, there was no kidnapping or
brutal beating."
"The president has repeatedly made clear his position on such
deeds," said Arzumanian. "Namely, such a conduct is unacceptable and
intolerable. The more so in the case of a state official."
Neither Beglarian, nor his alleged victim could be reached for comment
throughout the day. The press office of the Yerevan municipality also
did not respond to phone calls.
It was not immediately clear who will perform the mayor's duties until
the election of Beglarian's successor by the city's Council of Elders.
Most of the council seats are controlled by President Serzh Sarkisian's
Republican Party of Armenia (HHK).
Beglarian became Yerevan's first elected mayor in more than a decade
after leading the HHK to a landslide victory in disputed municipal
elections held in May 2009. The 46-year-old businessman, who is also
known to many Armenians as "Black Gago," had previously governed the
Armenian capital's central administrative district.
Beglarian has long held sway in a largely blue-collar section of the
district notorious for election-related violence against opposition
activists. Armenian opposition groups have for years accused him of
heading a local clan that rigs elections and bullies the government's
political opponents. In particular, they implicated him in a December
2009 assault on more than a dozen young activists of the opposition
Armenian National Congress.
Both Beglarian and the HHK have denied these allegations. The ruling
party highlighted the mayor's status as a key presidential ally when
it elected him to its decision-making Executive Body late last year.
From: A. Papazian
Ruzanna Stepanian
http://www.armenialiberty.org/content/article/2242752.html
08.12.2010
ARMENIA -- YEREVAN MAYOR GAGIK BEGLARIAN.
Yerevan's controversial Mayor Gagik Beglarian was forced to step down
on Wednesday after reportedly beating up a member of President Serzh
Sarkisian's staff. (UPDATED)
The resignation was announced by the Mayor's Office just hours after
Sarkisian effectively confirmed and condemned through a spokesman
Beglarian's involvement in the assault on Aram Kandayan, an official
at the presidential administration's protocol unit.
According to media reports, Kandayan incurred the ire of Beglarian
after asking the latter's wife not to sit next to Sarkisian during the
November 3 concert in Yerevan of Placido Domingo, the world-famous
Spanish tenor. Such seats have traditionally been reserved for
Armenia's prime minister, parliament speaker and the supreme head of
the Armenian Apostolic Church.
Armenia -- The wife of Yerevan Mayor Gagik Beglarian (L) at a concert
of Spanish tenor Placido Domingo, 3Dec2010.
Beglarian, who did not attend the concert, allegedly drove Kandayan
to one of his properties in Yerevan and beat up the young official
there the next day. Reports claimed that Sarkisian was infuriated by
the incident and demanded an official apology from the mayor.
"Unfortunately, an incident did take place," the presidential press
secretary, Armen Arzumanian, told RFE/RL's Armenian service. "But the
media have exaggerated it. In particular, there was no kidnapping or
brutal beating."
"The president has repeatedly made clear his position on such
deeds," said Arzumanian. "Namely, such a conduct is unacceptable and
intolerable. The more so in the case of a state official."
Neither Beglarian, nor his alleged victim could be reached for comment
throughout the day. The press office of the Yerevan municipality also
did not respond to phone calls.
It was not immediately clear who will perform the mayor's duties until
the election of Beglarian's successor by the city's Council of Elders.
Most of the council seats are controlled by President Serzh Sarkisian's
Republican Party of Armenia (HHK).
Beglarian became Yerevan's first elected mayor in more than a decade
after leading the HHK to a landslide victory in disputed municipal
elections held in May 2009. The 46-year-old businessman, who is also
known to many Armenians as "Black Gago," had previously governed the
Armenian capital's central administrative district.
Beglarian has long held sway in a largely blue-collar section of the
district notorious for election-related violence against opposition
activists. Armenian opposition groups have for years accused him of
heading a local clan that rigs elections and bullies the government's
political opponents. In particular, they implicated him in a December
2009 assault on more than a dozen young activists of the opposition
Armenian National Congress.
Both Beglarian and the HHK have denied these allegations. The ruling
party highlighted the mayor's status as a key presidential ally when
it elected him to its decision-making Executive Body late last year.
From: A. Papazian