Siranuysh Gevorgyan, ArmeniaNow
A youth initiative group in Armenia believes setting an entrance fee to a national reserve discourages schoolchildren and university students from taking sightseeing tours to an area where several old Armenian churches are located.
The organization called “Know Your Country” argues it is unfair that in order to get permission for a tour of the Khosrov Reserve to see Havuts Tari Monastery (X century), Aghjots Monastery (XIII century) and Kakavaberd Fortress (IX century) an intending visitor has to pay as much as 3,500 drams (nearly ).
The youth initiative was established recently on the basis of a better-known homeland study group, “Arshavner” (Tours). It is mainly engaged in organizing various military-patriotic sightseeing tours for young people.
“The initiative considers that charging money from young and financially insecure patriotic young hikers to be an impediment to learning more about Armenia’s historical and cultural sites,” the organization said in a released statement, calling on the Mother See of Holy Echmiadzin, as well as on the ministries of culture and environment of Armenia to take appropriate action to exclude such practice.
Head of the pressure group Ruben Baghdishyan told ArmeniaNow that recently they wanted to organize a tour for 50 people to the Khosrov forest, but when they learned it would cost them a round some of money they had to cancel the trip.
But director of the state-owned Khosrov reserve Vorontsov Barseghyan told ArmeniaNow that there was nothing odd in charging money from visitors. He said the current entrance fee of 3,500 AMD had been set by the Ministry of Environment and was even low and could not offset the costs of their services.
“Visitors go to historical and cultural sites by transport, they are provided with a guided tour, and if they are foreigners, they also get interpreting services. Besides, the churches mentioned by this organization are not functioning churches, they are historical and cultural monuments,” explained Barseghyan.
May 31, 2011 at 13:16