VIDEO: I Assess Alen Simonyan's Step Correctly. I Would Do Approximately the Same – Aghazaryan

I unambiguously assess the step taken by the Speaker of the National Assembly, Alen Simonyan, as correct. This was stated by the MP from the My Step faction, Hokvet Aghazaryan, in an interview with NEWS.am, referring to an incident where the President of the Republic was called a traitor by a citizen.

If I were in Alen Simonyan's position, I would have done something similar. Whether this is condemnable or not should be determined by the people during the upcoming elections. Let them continue to behave like that; representatives of the government will undoubtedly react in a similar manner, and let our ratings drop to zero, while they get elected, then either protect us or devour us or have some other fate befall us.

It is already evident today that our opposition colleagues with ill intent have adopted an interesting tactic, labeling themselves in predatory terms, creating local advantages with 3-5 people here and there and adopting disrespectful behavior towards representatives of the government, even provoking conflicts. Both Alen Simonyan and many others from our political force will not yield to such pressures. Yes, it's true that someone called me a traitor; I have to be magnanimous about it. Yes, I was called a traitor, I smiled, and that was said by a 17-year-old girl. That was the only occasion in my life where I did not react. Because a 17-year-old girl doesn’t have the political arguments to evaluate me and label me a traitor. She probably heard it from various sources. In all other instances, my reaction has been adequate, in some cases even more than that,” said Aghazaryan.

He noted that the person who called Alen Simonyan a “traitor” is not an ordinary citizen. “He is a member of that group that has formed to try to create something here and there. The representatives of that group need to receive their response at any moment. Now they are hiding behind the intelligent case of Artavazik Minasian and others, these poorly behaving citizens—representatives of that group,” Aghazaryan said.

He also mentioned that he learned today that there was an attack on the Prime Minister's son as well. “The Prime Minister’s son is a politically deactivated young man, living his life, and is a full member of this society. Taking advantage of the fact that he walks freely in Yerevan, attacking a young man with a group mentality is inexcusable and unacceptable. Such group, predatory behavior must be eradicated,” emphasized the MP.

He noted that there was an incident where a girl splashed water on him; he did nothing and told the police to let it go. “But in another case, I responded differently, I threw the table at them. It’s true that if I were not an MP, I wouldn’t be that brave; that is understandable. That is, tomorrow, if I am no longer an MP, they will literally devour me. And at that time, Edgar Ghazaryan, who wants to become a human rights defender, will protect me? No, he will just smirk and in his mind, say, ‘Mr. Aghazaryan, do you remember those sharp words against me?’”