Alen Simonyan Appeals to the Opposition

When the microphone is in a person's hand and they can make statements using it, they must remember that they cannot allow themselves to use street language. This was stated by the Secretary of the Armenia faction, Artavazd Minasyan, during a parliamentary session.

He told the Speaker of the National Assembly, Alen Simonyan, that the latter should apologize for his behavior yesterday. It is worth recalling that yesterday, Simonyan insulted Armenia faction MP Armenuhi Kyureghyan, saying, “I understand that no one is spitting on you, leave the room.” This was in response to Kyureghyan reminding the Speaker that he had spat on a citizen.

In response to Minasyan, Simonyan noted that there is nothing wrong with apologizing, but a person who should apologize must acknowledge their guilt and feel that they have committed an act they should not have done. “Your colleague, Ms. Kyureghyan, who is known for expressing her thoughts in the most condemnable and street-like manner, has allowed herself to make yet another comment in response to which I responded and will always respond, and I will respond even more,” he said, adding that standards should not be double.

While speaking on behalf of the faction, Minasyan stated that although Simonyan started his speech on a positive note, he ended with a disappointing statement. “Even though you spoke about an apology, you continued in your style of irresponsible behavior as the Speaker of the National Assembly. On the contrary, you threatened with new insults. Assuming tomorrow you don’t have that microphone, the bodyguards are not there, you leave this hall, you will be out in public where no one will hold your hands, but you need to communicate with people, right? I expected you to find the will within yourself and apologize, laying the groundwork to exclude such phenomena in the future, but you didn’t. You don’t do it; God be with you,” Minasyan said.

Simonyan also spoke on behalf of the faction in response to Minasyan. “The narrative you are trying to promote, that I am hiding behind my position or the bodyguards available to me, is probably outdated in a small group. When you were in power with Robert Kocharyan and were beating people on the sidewalks and hitting them on the head with the toilet bowl, I openly called things by their names and will continue to act the same way,” Simonyan declared.

Simonyan noted that if Minasyan believes that a conversation about behaviors can be opened, he is not against it. “Believe me, you will suffer more from this. You urge me to communicate in a good manner, but when you write even on paper, you do everything possible to not write a respectful word, or you do it in such a way that no one thinks, ‘you spoke well with the Speaker of the National Assembly.’ Look at what you have done, and then come here to give moral lessons. And I warn you, don’t speak to me with threats; that doesn’t work and will have the opposite effect,” concluded the Speaker of the National Assembly.