‘We Want Gagik Beglaryan Back,’ Say Yerevan City Hall Protestors

City hall is clear, is determined by its process and this process is irreversible because if on one side, there is a certain group of protestors, on the other side, there is the support of a hundred thousand Yerevan residents. Numerous individuals commend and express their gratitude for the process we’ve begun, said Yerevan City Hall Department of Trade and Services Chief Specialist Hovhannes Ghalechyan.

According to Ghalechyan, those vendors who unlawfully sell their wares on the street have been offered places in markets, where the fee for stall won’t be raised and will be discounted.

Asked by Epress.am by what date is city hall expecting to finally thwart street trade and whether they’re concerned of greater mass protests, Ghalechyan said it can already be noted that there’s no street trade.

“To protest is each citizen’s constitutional right, but I don’t think that in the case of every complaint, lawful processes that pursue good objectives must be terminated. They can continue their work in areas that have been defined,” he said.

In front of city hall, however, disgruntled vendors continued to protest and demand money for food.

“They haven’t come from the bosom of the people; they aren’t human, all this is going to be skin off their nose. We will continue our doing. We know that all this has been done because of a presidential order, tomorrow we will go together to the president’s residence, today he’s not here,” said one demonstrator.

“We don’t want bread from Iran, we’re asking the mayor to allow us to work for bread money. Let him leave his position, let him return to his ArmRosGazprom, let [former Yerevan mayor] Gagik Beglaryan come, we were pleased with him, he partially turned a blind eye, he understood that the people would go hungry,” said a few female protestors.

“We won’t be slaves for them, let them forget that, I’m not going to go work for their supermarkets as a bagger, I can bring them to work for me, but I won’t go to them. Praise god, I have 3 healthy children, in order to keep them, I might kill someone. I will do my doing, I’ll go and place [my booth on the sidewalk], 4 people will come and clean it up, I’ll hit one of them, he will hit me, I will go to the police station, after that I’ll go to the Council of Europe with my bloodied face I’ll say, give me money for a ticket and I’ll go,” said one of the Vardanants street vendors.