Let's Acknowledge That the Government Has Decided to Exploit Amulsar: Ani Samsonyan

Let's acknowledge that the Government has made its decision that Amulsar should be exploited, this is reflected in their silence and the fact that people are left alone in their fight against Lydian. This was stated by Ani Samsonyan, a member of the ‘Enlightened Armenia’ faction, during a protest held today regarding the Amulsar issue.

“Let's acknowledge that the defenders of Amulsar will fight until the end. Whatever the consequences of the struggle might be, we can imagine the worst-case scenarios, but the responsibility lies with the authorities and the government. Such a situation should not be allowed because these people have expectations from the government, as they have been promised that no work would be carried out here,” she noted.

Samsonyan mentioned that months ago in the National Assembly, the representatives of the ‘My Step’ faction met with the defenders of Amulsar. “I was informed that there had been a meeting where they were persuaded to open the road and allow Lydian to carry out work, which has angered the defenders of Amulsar. Because it is one thing to make promises before the elections and another to convince after the elections, which shows a lack of will,” she stated.

Samsonyan also emphasized that the issue of mine exploitation falls within the purview of the Government, and sufficient information should be provided to propose solutions. The last information they received was the expertise from Elard, which they expressed distrust towards. “We have detailed our reasons for this distrust. We said that if you can convince people that there could be an expertise capable of managing the risks, let’s try to discuss it. However, when speaking with the locals, it becomes clear that no expertise will convince them, as people would not even want to buy products from Gndevaz. These are the consequences we are noting and what potential repercussions exploitation could have, no matter how convincing the government or any expert company is,” she said.

The MP emphasized that the Government does not state that the mine can be exploited as the Government cannot make non-populistic announcements. “The Government may communicate with the people and make announcements that will please them; if they make statements that people do not like, it would be against their populist power, it’s quite simple,” she noted.