Epress.am News from Armenia
Martin Ohanyan, a resident of the city of Vanadzor in Armenia's Lori province, went on a hunger strike on September 6 to demand that Vanadzor mayor Samvel Darbinyan find a solution to his housing problem. The protester claims that back in 2003 Darbinyan sold the territory where his family has been living in a small house since 1993.
“We, along with others affected by the [1988 Spitak earthquake] have been living in a condominium since 1993. We were told to live there until our housing issue was resolved. We tried to buy these territories and build houses but [authorities] insisted that the land was not for sale. Then we found out that the area had already been sold,” Ohanyan told Epress.am Thursday, adding that he did not blame the buyer at all since “he has also been set up.”
“My family's rights have been violated; I'm a sick man and I have no other means to fight other than [going on] a hunger strike. Let Darbinyan resolve this issue with his own resources,” the protester said.
In a previous conversation with a representative of the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly Vanadzor Office, Ohanyan said that the last time he tried to appeal to the Vanadzor mayor, Darbinyan threatened to “beat him up.”