Epress.am News from Armenia
“Really, there’s nothing dirtier than politics. Two days ago, I reported on the protests by street vendors. And I said that many political forces are now going to run to take advantage of these people, according to their interests.” Host of the TV news commentary program Tesankyun (“View”) Gevorg Altunyan responded on Facebook to accusations by Yerevan street traders protesting outside the public radio building today and demanding an apology from him.
According to the protestors, Altunyan had called the street vendors “Gikors,” after the popular Hovhannes Tumanyan poem “Gikor,” in which a village boy (Gikor) meets his tragic fate when he is sent to the city (Tbilisi, Georgia) by his father to work for a rich trader, Bazaz Artem.
“No such thing was said,” Altunyan told Epress.am.
According to the popular TV host, his program can also be viewed online.
“Whoever wants can see it and say, whether I said anything offensive to the vendors, apart from speaking about their issues,” he said.
Altunyan says he’s taken aback at such a reaction.
“What else can I add, I’m in shock. And when I call and ask, why did you say such a thing, surprised, they respond, how, that’s normal, in such cases people have to be guided and we are guiding them,” he said.