How Turkish Trucks Reached the Square: Clarification from the Organizer of the 'Colorful' Event

“It will be about 1.5-2 months since we started preparing for the event dedicated to the 30th anniversary of Armenia's independence on September 21,” said Ashot Arakelyan, founder of Domino Production, in a conversation with 168.am.

According to him, they are implementing the entire branding of the event, and the posters dedicated to the 30th anniversary of independence, which are posted at the stops, are also theirs. Regarding the Turkish truck that arrived at Republic Square yesterday, which brought equipment for the event dedicated to the 30th anniversary of Armenia’s independence, Ashot Arakelyan stated that it did not come from Turkey.

“It is a shipment from Germany—a German filming system that a German company has transported to Armenia via a transportation company. The transportation company sent this system with a truck that has Turkish state license plates, which is not prohibited in Armenia, and you can see such things on the streets. The cargo is not Turkish, it has nothing to do with Turkey; that system exists only in Germany, and the Germans addressed that transportation organization. The shipment has come from Germany using that Turkish vehicle. It was just one truck... I not only exclude the talks that this shipment has come from Turkey, but it is impossible for such a thing to happen,” Ashot Arakelyan, the founder of Domino Production, reiterated.

Assistant to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Nairi Sarkisyan, recently mentioned in a Facebook post that “special seats have been allocated for the parents of fallen servicemen,” so we asked the organizer how many seats have been provided for the parents of fallen servicemen at Republic Square, but Ashot Arakelyan replied that this question is not within their domain. “Contact the relevant authorities, and you will receive an answer; I am not dealing with seats and so on; we are only organizing the event,” he said.

It should be recalled that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was the first to announce the event dedicated to the 30th anniversary of Armenia’s independence during the government meeting on September 8. “Due to circumstances, we cannot consider our mood to be celebratory, but we have decided that the 30th anniversary of Armenia's independence should be marked properly, and there will be a large-scale and colorful celebration at Republic Square on September 21,” Pashinyan stated. Just minutes after this announcement, people began posting critical comments on social networks, scolding the government regarding this decision. Especially the relatives of fallen, missing, and captured servicemen made harsh statements.

Incidentally, hundreds of parents of fallen servicemen have issued a statement demanding the cancellation of the “colorful celebration.” “We, the parents, women, and family members of our heroic, fallen boys consider the colorful concert organized six days before the first anniversary of the war on September 21 as sacrilege, a disgusting act. It has not even been a year since our sons were killed; hundreds of parents are still searching for their sons and husbands, and we have captives who are subjected to inhuman tortures every day. Under these circumstances, conducting a colorful concert and the announcement that it will be dedicated to our boys is a severe insult to us and the memory of our boys. We call for a cancellation of this intention and urge to commemorate Independence Day with other kinds of events stemming from the situation.”