Everything would be normal if my personal matter didn't come to light: Vahan Artsruni to Arsen Torosyan

It would have been wonderful if the start of the 100th anniversary celebrations of Yerevan State Medical University had not been tarnished by a scandal that emerged in the form of a video message from the Minister of Health, Arsen Torosyan. This was stated by Vahan Artsruni, the chairman of the university's board of trustees, during a live broadcast on his Facebook page, adding that the existing problems are related to issues within the Ministry of Health and have a procedural status.

“What interested me first and foremost was whether the minister's statement that cyanide is not that dangerous for the population would be clarified. Unfortunately, this was not discussed in his video message, which surprised me and seemed to be quite logical because the minister was focused on a different set of questions related to his recent actions. Everything would be fine if the theme of my personal matter did not come to light. There are two aspects here. The first is due to the fact that I chair the board of trustees of the medical university. Once again, an attempt was made to create misunderstandings and introduce artificial distortions regarding this issue. This is a clearly formulated trend that has been present for almost a year—starting from the moment the board entered the pre-election period,” said Artsruni.

He recalled that he was appointed to the board of trustees at the suggestion of the Minister of Education, Arayik Harutyunyan. “The second phase was due to the fact that the board should elect a president. At that time, speculative and absurd claims began, calls in the media that hinted at a certain trend. In other words, all these activities were aimed at diverting public attention from the fact that Vahan Artsruni is acting first as a public representative. They also tried to divert attention from the fact related to my familial connection to the chief physician, Vahan Artsruni. Raising this issue for the fourth time and attempting to present it in a different light is simply an insult to the government's initiative. The minister mentions in his video message that there is a task to change the composition of the board of trustees; that is, I was elected by the reformed board, chosen through free voting. To question this moment means to undermine the mechanisms proposed by the state, to undermine the specialists who are part of the public council,” he said.

Artsruni emphasized that, in addition to this, there is an attempt to directly insult Vahan Artsruni himself by questioning his familial connection with the chief physician, Vahan Artsruni. “There are a few people on this planet to whom I can tell my family tree, and they are my children. No one, whether a simple citizen or a high-ranking state official, has the right to poke their nose into that domain, let alone raise questions at the public level.”