Mayor of Gyulagarak from the CPP Takes Control of Community Lands: 'Hetq'

"The mayor of Gyulagarak community in the Lori province, affiliated with the CPP, has been busy seizing control of community lands since taking office." This was reported by 'Hetq'.

"After legalizing his illegally constructed buildings in Gyulagarak and registering the community lands they occupied in his sister's son's name, the mayor has also changed the land category registered in the name of a relative and has succeeded in this. After the documentation, the properties purchased at a lower price are being attempted to sell at exorbitant prices.

There are four separate buildings on the right side of the road leading from Gyulagarak to the Dendropark. These are private cottages that are rented out to vacationers. Almost everyone in Gyulagarak knows that the cottages were built years ago by Mayor Khachik Vardanyan, and they actually belong to him.

It has only recently become clear that the cabins were built on community land illegally and at a time when the same Khachik Vardanyan was leading the community. As a person responsible for community property by office, Vardanyan has failed to fulfill his official duties. Moreover, he has seized community land. Thereon, without urban planning documents, which again are provided by the community leader, he has carried out construction."

"From the HJC to the RPA, and from the RPA to the CPP: a short path to returning to power"

Khachik Vardanyan, after working in forestry for 20 years, joined the 'Armenian Revival' party (former OEK) in 2016 and was elected mayor of the Gyulagarak rural community. He did not hold the mayorship for long. In 2017, nearby villages merged with Gyulagarak, and extraordinary elections were held. Vardanyan left the HJC and joined the RPA, entering into an electoral battle with longtime mayor of Kurtan, RPA member Mher Gevorgyan. Vardanyan lost.

Not long after the 2021 parliamentary elections, Mher Gevorgyan resigned under government pressure. By the decision of Lori's CPP governor Aram Khachatryan, Khachik Vardanyan returned to the position of Gyulagarak community leader, being appointed as acting mayor. After a year in office, Vardanyan, as a member of the 'Civil Contract' party, headed the CPP's electoral list. Following the CPP victory, from 2022 onwards, Vardanyan has served as the mayor of Gyulagarak.

Illegal construction on community land

Photos taken from Arbanak confirm that on the right side of the road leading to the Dendropark, four cottages were partially constructed in August 2017. This means that construction began before August. Months later, the extraordinary elections for the newly merged community of Gyulagarak were held. The cottages were built before the elections, in which Khachik Vardanyan lost.

The next mayor, Mher Gevorgyan, only dealt with the illegally constructed buildings on community land two years later and was satisfied with imposing a fine of 400 thousand drams. A relative of Khachik Vardanyan contested the administrative act in court and managed to receive a ruling to annul it.

For more details, refer to the original source.