Epress.am News from Armenia
“Our slogan today is ‘Silence is not a Solution’; that is, by being silent or indifferent, we won’t solve anything, we must speak particularly about the HIV virus, about human rights, so that we can prevent the increase [of the virus] in our region,” said PINK Armenia NGO President Mamikon Hovsepyan during a march organized to mark World AIDS Day in Yerevan today. He noted that the focus of the demonstration is mainly on protecting human rights.
The march in central Yerevan navigated its way down Teryan St., through to Koryun Street, Mashtots Blvd., Amiryan St., up Northern Ave. then concluded at Liberty (Freedom) Square next to the Opera building. There were flashmobs near Yeritasardakan Metro, Republic Square and finally at Liberty Square — a contentious area, particularly since opposition bloc the Armenian National Congress has submitted over 40 requests to hold a rally at Liberty Square, all of which have been denied.
“The most important thing is that such demonstrations raise the level of awareness among the public,” said Hovsepyan.
According to him, there have been many such events in Armenia, and beginning from 2008, some organizations have been carrying out joint projects.
“In 2008, there were five organizations; in 2009, four; while this year there are more than 10 organizations and there’s even been international support,” he said.
The president of participating organization NDP, Arsen Hakobyan, told Epress.am that he noticed that people are surprised during such demonstrations. “However, we’re going to do more such demos, so that we raise awareness.”
Epress.am also spoke with a number of Yerevan residents who received the information pamphlets distributed by march participants and expressed their opinions on the matter.
“Today is AIDS Day, right? It’s great that such demonstrations are taking place, there are people who don’t know, this way they get informed. I, for example, know,” said one State Engineering University of Armenia student.
“Since I haven’t been infected, I don’t know what is AIDS, but it’s good that such demonstrations are happening, I too will read [the info] and find out what it is,” said another student from the same university.
In the opinion of one Yerevan State University Faculty of Philology student, over the past two years, there’s been a rise in the level of people’s awareness and “it’s great that such demonstrations take place.”
According to one government employee, every type of demonstration has an effect on society, “it’s just, let the effect be constant; that is, let them derive lessons [from it].”
“We don’t take an interest as much as is necessary, we know and receive information through television. We are in favor of such demonstrations taking place; the public becomes informed through such ways,” one homemaker told Epress.am.