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Protestors March to Yerevan's Pak Shouka; Met by Counter-Demonstration
Across the Street
Hrant Gadarigian
18:13, September 13, 2013
A group of around 100 protestors, all sporting yellow baseball caps,
wound their way through downtown Yerevan today, urging passersby to
join their march in opposition to the construction taking place at the
city's iconic landmark, the Pak Shouka (Covered Market).
Against a backdrop of seemingly public indifference, the marchers
gathered on the sidewalk opposite the market where construction was
continuing in earnest.
As if on cue, a larger group had assembled directly in front of the
market in support of the construction being undertaken by MP Samuel
Aleksanyan, the new owner of the building.
It seems that the police had learnt a lesson from the last
demonstration for and against the construction when the opposing sides
met head on and scuffled.
Both sides waved the Armenian tricolor and snapped photos of the opposition.
I have to confess that those in favor, many of whom it is alleged have
been `paid-off' by the new owner, were the most vocal and hoisted
large banners calling the anti-construction protestors `Paid Foreign
Spies' and `Grant Eaters'.
It would appear that Aleksanyan has chosen a strategy of making it
appear that just as many citizens favor what he is doing as those
opposed.
One anti-construction protestor I spoke to commented that it was
ironic that Turkey is rehabilitating Armenian cultural landmarks while
they are being destroyed in Armenia.
He added that while Turkey has realized the advantages of such
rehabilitation, even if just to attract more tourist dollars to the
eastern regions, Armenia is bent on turning its landmarks into crass
commercial sites.
MP Aleksanyan owns the Yerevan City supermarket chain and it is feared
that the market will become one as well.
Despite the fact that several state agencies, including the Ministry
of Culture, have publicly stated that the changes being made to the
market violate landmark norms, it seems that no one in government is
able or willing to halt the construction and to commission a panel of
experts to appraise what is being done.
Yesterday a group of noted Armenian architects held a press conference
and labeled the construction a desecration of the 1950s landmark.
It seems that their protestations have fallen on deaf ears.
http://hetq.am/eng/news/29335/protestors-march-to-yerevan%E2%80%99s-pak-shouka;-met-by-counter-demonstration-across-the-street.html
Across the Street
Hrant Gadarigian
18:13, September 13, 2013
A group of around 100 protestors, all sporting yellow baseball caps,
wound their way through downtown Yerevan today, urging passersby to
join their march in opposition to the construction taking place at the
city's iconic landmark, the Pak Shouka (Covered Market).
Against a backdrop of seemingly public indifference, the marchers
gathered on the sidewalk opposite the market where construction was
continuing in earnest.
As if on cue, a larger group had assembled directly in front of the
market in support of the construction being undertaken by MP Samuel
Aleksanyan, the new owner of the building.
It seems that the police had learnt a lesson from the last
demonstration for and against the construction when the opposing sides
met head on and scuffled.
Both sides waved the Armenian tricolor and snapped photos of the opposition.
I have to confess that those in favor, many of whom it is alleged have
been `paid-off' by the new owner, were the most vocal and hoisted
large banners calling the anti-construction protestors `Paid Foreign
Spies' and `Grant Eaters'.
It would appear that Aleksanyan has chosen a strategy of making it
appear that just as many citizens favor what he is doing as those
opposed.
One anti-construction protestor I spoke to commented that it was
ironic that Turkey is rehabilitating Armenian cultural landmarks while
they are being destroyed in Armenia.
He added that while Turkey has realized the advantages of such
rehabilitation, even if just to attract more tourist dollars to the
eastern regions, Armenia is bent on turning its landmarks into crass
commercial sites.
MP Aleksanyan owns the Yerevan City supermarket chain and it is feared
that the market will become one as well.
Despite the fact that several state agencies, including the Ministry
of Culture, have publicly stated that the changes being made to the
market violate landmark norms, it seems that no one in government is
able or willing to halt the construction and to commission a panel of
experts to appraise what is being done.
Yesterday a group of noted Armenian architects held a press conference
and labeled the construction a desecration of the 1950s landmark.
It seems that their protestations have fallen on deaf ears.
http://hetq.am/eng/news/29335/protestors-march-to-yerevan%E2%80%99s-pak-shouka;-met-by-counter-demonstration-across-the-street.html