Yerevan School Denies Beating of Syrian-Armenian Student, Urges Media ‘to Be Delicate’

“There was no fight at Yerevan's Alexander Pushkin basic school – it was just a mere incident,” the school's administration claimed in a letter to Armenian Hraparak daily, commenting on the outlet's article about a Syrian-Armenian student having been subjected to a violent gang attack at the school. The “incident,” as stated in the letter, took place on November 23.

“A ninth grader, who was not on duty that day, gave a reprimand to a misbehaving sixth grader. The latter, without realizing the consequences of his actions, complained to an older relative. The school's ninth graders tried to smooth the issue over; a scuffle broke out which, however, was immediately averted by the teachers, and the students made up. It's important to note that no one was injured in the incident and, therefore, there were no complaints from parents. As for the involvement of a Syrian-Armenian student in the incident – that's a total disinformation which disoriented the headmaster of the school who in response to your reporter's inquiry said she was unaware of the fact that a Syrian-Armenian child had been beaten at the school.

“The above-mentioned gives grounds to conclude that the reporter published false information, distorting the facts and labeling some of the students. 

“On a different note, from now own we urge you not to separate our Syrian-Armenian pupils from the others; it's unacceptable, especially considering the fact that the school has been successfully taking targeted measures for years to eliminate such discrimination.

“We urge mass media representatives to be more delicate when spreading information about schools,” the statement reads.