VIDEO: "You Don’t Need to Speak to Me, Us in the Language of Blackmail" - Avinyan on Yesterday’s Incident

“I am not a broken phone here. If I say, colleagues, we need to discuss these issues during the questions, it means we need to discuss the issues,” said Yerevan Mayor Tigran Avinyan at today’s city council meeting. He added, “You don’t need to speak to me, us in the language of blackmail.”

Avinyan noted that speaking in the language of blackmail is unnecessary: “Because as much as these meetings are necessary for us, they are just as necessary for you and your voters. Because if we cannot solve problems here together, maybe this city council institution can be dissolved, and new elections can be held.”

The mayor emphasized they are not afraid of new elections and requested not to “speak in the language of threats”: “We do not speak to you in this language.”

It is worth mentioning that the situation escalated during the speech of Ani Khachatryan, head of the “Republic” faction, at yesterday’s Yerevan city council meeting. After Khachatryan stepped down from the stage, Sona Aghekyan, a member of the “Mother Armenia” faction, poured a glass of water over her. Khachatryan responded in kind, which led to a brawl, and Mayor Tigran Avinyan instructed to turn off the live broadcast. The details can be seen in the video.