Tense Situation in Nork Marash: Residents Claim 'The Colonel of NSS is Seizing the Public Road'

Today, on May 5, residents of 5th street in the Nork Marash administrative district of Yerevan gathered on the mentioned street to understand how it happened that a resident of this street is unlawfully prohibiting the free movement of about 15 homeowners.

In a conversation with photojournalist Gagik Shamshyan, the residents said: 'This road has been open since Soviet times. There has never been an obstacle. We have always traveled on it, both on foot and by car. Now, inexplicably, our neighbor Karen Mertarchyan has received permission to construct a building, which we are happy about, and we even congratulate him on his new home. However, the fact that it is said that everything opens up only when appetite kicks in is exactly the case here. Years ago, he wanted to build a stone garage on part of the street but was prevented from doing so by the relevant authorities, and that structure remains unfinished. Now he has decided that he should claim this road for himself. This reminds me completely of Tumanyan's 'End of Evil,' which states, 'this mountain is mine, this tree is mine.' We have approached the New Marash administrative office, and they came to visit, expressing willingness to improve the street and address the external lighting issue, but they told us to negotiate with Karen among ourselves. It turns out that public officials, in this case of the Nork Marash municipality, want to do good things but find themselves unable.'

Shamshyan notes that according to rumors from the air, K. Mertarchyan always manages to prevent officials from the Yerevan Mayor's Office from coming to demolish that unfinished structure and restore the road.

'There are sewer lines running under that unfinished structure, with more than five inspection wells present. If the wells become obstructed, who will be responsible for that? There are 15 households that also include elderly residents. When an ambulance is called, where should the ambulance park while the doctors come on foot? And if an emergency occurs, including a fire, how will rescuers evacuate people, and how will the fire truck approach the fire sites? We honestly want to believe that the Yerevan municipality, led by Mayor Hrachya Sargsyan, will solve this issue in favor of the residents. Otherwise, we may consider that K. Mertarchyan believes he is all-powerful, especially since he works for the National Security Service and holds the rank of colonel,' the publication states.