Tomorrow We Must Take to the Streets Against Our Wrong Choice. Mikhail Minasian

Tomorrow we must take to the streets against our wrong choice. We must be in Freedom Square not for intangible dreams but for a dignified life. This was stated on his Facebook page by the former Ambassador of Armenia to the Vatican, Mikhail Minasian.

He specifically noted: “Tomorrow’s rally is not only about Artsakh; it is for a dignified life in every sense. Our people have the right to live with dignity, they have the right to know the number of victims, and we are obliged to give meaning to their deaths and heroism. We must deal with the fate of the missing and we have no right to have captives. We must start thinking, realizing that we have the right to live well.”

“We must go to tomorrow's rally so that there are no Annas and Nikols, Makunts, Omega Aarons, thieving Avinyans, and Haykos. That same Hayko, who ruined our city.”

“Yesterday, it snowed for just one day in Yerevan, and it immediately paralyzed the morning traffic in the capital. Over 40 cars collided at a single stop in Nor Nork. Not to mention the streets not being cleared, the accidents, and the kilometer-long traffic jams that upset the residents of Yerevan, who were posting complaints and pictures on social media.”

“In short, it was the usual Yerevan chaos. And what was incomprehensible to me was the residents' frustration. Why were they dissatisfied and with what? That the streets weren’t cleared? But isn’t Hayko your mayor? When you chose Hayko, what were you thinking that it wouldn’t snow?”

“When Hayko promised to install ultra-modern, wider elevators, and his opponents said he was talking nonsense, because the apartment buildings’ shafts were not designed for those elevators, whose side did you protect, and in the end, who did you choose? And now, when these elevators are neither for 12 people nor functioning, who is to blame?”

“There could not have been any other picture since the mayor of Yerevan has spent more than half of his 2.5 years in office on vacation, and the only tangible outcome has been his and his friends’ new real estate in expensive neighborhoods of foreign capitals (yes, these increased between 2018-2021). And there are many questions related to his administration: what eventually happened with the 'Sanitek' takeover, what bribery mechanisms were used to purchase the KAMAZ trucks, what happened to the construction of the new metro station, and the ‘wide elevators’? What about Yerevan's new transportation system with a unified payment system? Why were the promised large and comfortable buses replaced with ‘snowing’ GAZELs?”

“What has Hayko done? Very simply: nothing. But he is not alone. The ‘Belin Gaghogh’ failed singer who was appointed as chief architect did nothing as well, made money, and upon leaving, took with him a $2 million bonus for doing nothing. It turned out that his songs were also fake, the lyrics too, and behind the beard, the velvet voice, and lyrical couplets, there was just an ordinary crook who took his share and left.”

“But Yerevan residents have no reason to complain because Hayko is both their collective choice and responsibility. While there may have been emotional motives or political explanations when choosing Nikol, Hayko’s election was certainly neither; it was a conscious choice. A choice for nothing. Therefore, it is time to ‘enjoy’ the consequences of that decision or to change it.”

“I have no doubt that the residents of Yerevan and Armenia will rise, bury Nikol’s political corpse, and rid themselves of his metastases—from KGB agents to Turk-loving slaves, from political and physiological prostitutes to clown mayors, because Armenians can tolerate and endure, but they cannot live with lies and treachery.”

“Finally, I am deeply disappointed with those 'famous Yerevan residents' who dedicated hymns to the capital, wrote songs, fought for parks and trees, and today maintain a criminal silence, ignoring that the city has been left abandoned and the residents orphaned.”

“Mark tomorrow’s date: February 20, 2021. Tomorrow we must take to the streets against our wrong choice. Tomorrow we must be in Freedom Square not for intangible dreams, but for a dignified life so that in the 21st century, residents of Yerevan and Armenia will not have to walk to work, so that a police officer will not have to drive a taxi after his shift, so that teachers and retirees can live comfortably, so that entrepreneurs can emerge from under the burden of newly minted oligarchs, so that diaspora Armenians can live confidently and with heads held high.”

“By not taking to the streets, you continue to choose the traitors of the homeland, those who have destroyed the army and turned the country into a disaster zone. Tomorrow is the moment of choice, so let us all—young and old—be in Freedom Square tomorrow, February 20, at 3:00 PM, for a dignified life, for the sacred memory of our martyrs, and for the future of our children.”