Tense Situation in Gegharkunik Province: Residents of Tsovaghyugh and Semenovka Villages Block Road

Today, on January 24, a tense situation has arisen in Gegharkunik Province. According to photojournalist Gagik Shamshyan, residents of Tsovaghyugh and Semenovka villages, including men, women, and children, have closed the main road of the Tsovaghyugh administrative area on the Yerevan-Sevan-Ijevan highway in protest, demanding that the government annul its decision regarding the unification of their villages.

Participants in the protest action stated, “We oppose the unification of our villages with Sevan. We have worked hard to beautify our villages with our mayors and will continue to do so. It’s no coincidence that tourists come to our villages and say, ‘Wow, it’s like we’re in a mini Switzerland,’ with paved roads, organized sidewalks, outdoor lighting resolved in every street, and timely waste collection. People trust each other to the extent that it feels like communism hasn’t left this village. They leave their house keys on a hook attached to the door, just like in Soviet times. These villages are the ones that can be summed up as ‘one for all, all for one,’ thanks to our farmers and village leaders. Otherwise, if our villages merge with Sevan, it won’t be long before we all become clients of the Sevan psychiatric hospital. Who knows what kind of crackpot professor came up with such a decision? Regardless, we will fight until the end to ensure that our villages remain as they are, because what does it mean that to get any information or resolve a hundred different questions, we need to travel several kilometers to Sevan? That’s not a solution; we demand an urgent resolution, otherwise, we’re prepared to keep the road blocked even at night.”

The photojournalist reports that the traffic jam due to the road closure has reached up to 1-1.5 kilometers. Currently, the head of the Sevan police department Surik Janikyan and his deputy Ghazar Davtyan are negotiating with the villagers.