Epress.am News from Armenia
“Do we need this Sarkozy— what are they doing?” complained one Yerevan minibus (“marshrutka”) driver in response to the more-than-usual traffic congestion in the Armenian capital due to French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s one-day visit to Armenia.
“Sarkozy has nothing to do with it; it’s [Armenian President] Serzh [Sargsyan] who’s behind it,” responded one of the passengers.
While the two heads of state were participating in the unveiling ceremony of Auguste Rodin’s statue of Jules Bastien-Lepage in France Square, nearly all of Yerevan was in a traffic jam. Almost all of the downtown streets leading to the Opera building and France Square were closed, as were nearly all major roads leading into downtown from the suburbs.
One Epress.am reporter was forced to disembark from a public transportation minibus, which was stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic, and tried to get a taxi to find an alternate route to the office. However, that too was an unsuccessful endeavor. Vehicles coming from Gai Ave. tried to get into town through the districts of Nork and Sari Tagh; however, there was just as much congestion through these alternate routes. Other Epress.am employees said they simply got off at Baghramyan Ave. and walked the remaining 4—5 km to the office.
“Why do the people need this Sarkozy? We’re only going to remember that the roads were closed. Nothing good will come out of it for us,” said one taxi driver.
The Epress.am employee who was walking down Baghramyan Ave. with numerous others described how people who were late to work and a nervous wreck were sparing no words for the situation and those who they believe were to blame.
“Damn this [Rodin] statue! Am I going to spread it on bread [and eat it]?” said one man.
“By the way, why are they [i.e. France] giving us this statue? Who is that, the Armenian people’s next friend?” asked one woman.
The situation was made even more ridiculous by the road patrol police, who apparently were trying to regulate the traffic. At one intersection an officer gestured that it was ok to pass, when another officer appeared and instructed cars to stop and take a different route.
“They’re killing us — they can’t organize anything! Let no one else come to this country; we’re sick and tired already” is the last thing the Epress.am employee heard the taxi driver say as she disembarked after the nearly 2-hour trip from Avan to downtown Yerevan.