Epress.am News from Armenia
Despite police prohibiting it, activists are preparing to light a bonfire to celebrate Trndez this evening in the park adjacent to the maternity hospital on Mashtots Ave. between Aram and Buzand streets. This news was conveyed to Epress.am by environmentalists and civic activists who have been protesting the building of commercial kiosks in the park for three days straight.
Note, Trndez (also known as Tiarn’ndaraj) is ultimatley a pagan holiday, but because of its widespread acceptance and the nature of this holiday, the Armenian Apostolic Church has blended this tradition with the Christian holiday Candlemas, which marks “The Coming of the Son of God into the Temple.” People light bonfires in church courtyards and elsewhere to celebrate the pagan aspect of the tradition, which also includes recently married or engaged couples jumping over a bonfire to be blessed in marriage.
“No where in the law does it say that lighting a fire is prohibited, but our police are attentively monitoring [the situation] so that no fire is lit here. The previous day, when we wanted to burn wood in order to get warm, the police strictly forbade it, which is why we didn’t spend the night here. According to them, we’re dirtying the are and committing illegal acts. We are constantly guarding [the area] and from time to time being filmd by police cameras,” said one of the protestors.
Despite the terrible cold, it’s the third day they’ve been standing guard in the park.
“Fortunately, our [protests] weren’t fruitless — there’s been no construction work in the park. Today again workers came and attempted to work, but confronted with our stubborn resistance, they left,” said one of the protestors today, Yeghia Nersisyan.
Yerevan mayor Taron Margaryan invited three of the activists to meet with him tomorrow, she added.
“We are going to go with one demand: to remove the illegal structures and return the park to its former appearance. If even Mr. Margaryan refuses [our request], we will continue to fight until our country’s leaders settle accounts with us. Right now we have adopted a form of civil protest and we want to make our voice heard this way,” said another protestor, environmental activist Mariam Sukhudyan.
Activists also organized a small photo exhibit on site featuring images of old notable buildings in Yerevan since demolished.
“On display here is my work of the past eight years of old Yerevan with its buildings. The purpose of exhibiting these photos here is so that passers-by see what amazing buildings were destroyed and what tasteless buildings were put up in their place. My childhood was spent in this park and when I want to compare the former Yerevan and my childhood park with today, I simply can’t find the words. This is my form of protest,” said photographer Hayk Bianjyan.
While protestors were speaking to the press, workers removed construction materials and equipment from the site. Protestors clapped and expressed hope that they won’t be brought back to the park.
“Soon these structures will also be removed from the park and we will celebrate our next victory,” said protestors, with conviction.
Despite the cold, activists promise to remain till late this evening to ensure no further construction work is carried out. They say that over the past three days, they collected about 500 signatures protesting the building of kiosks in the park and they continue to collect more. Tomorrow, they will deliver the petition to city hall.
Recall, a clash between activists and construction workers on Saturday resulted in activists throwing snowballs at the workers while the latter threw mud and wet concrete onto the protestors.