I Am Accused of Inprincipality: Armen Pambukhchyan

The member of parliament from the “My Step” faction and former deputy minister of transport and communications, Armen Pambukhchyan, writes on his Facebook page: "I have recounted this story several times on various occasions, but I find it necessary to discuss it again in light of today’s reality.

During the years of the war, my father and I did not cut down trees to heat our home; instead, we gathered branches and remnants of cut trees. I always asked my father why we went out every day to gather branches when we could also cut a tree and secure heating for a substantial period in our 115 sqm home, specifically the 12 sqm area (now my parents' bedroom) where we lived with four people. My father said that as long as we had the option to gather branches, we would not cut down a tree.

For a 7-8-year-old, it was on one hand incomprehensible to live in that small room in a large house, but on the other hand, it was understandable – the value of trees and nature.

Over the years, alongside my political maturity and with infinite love for nature, I have always balanced and understood that there are needs that are resolved by causing some harm to nature, as long as that loss is not irreversible. I have approached every environmental action from the perspective of combining these two circumstances.

Today, a number of girls and boys, who presumably have warmed up with the trees cut by their fathers, from which I gathered the branches, accuse me of inprincipality, whereas I have never, ever claimed that this or that mountain will not be turned into a mine, nor the opposite, within the framework of the explanation I provided above. This is the reality of our daily lives, the attitude and approach of a significant portion of the Facebook trending circle.”