Ecolur
“We are this city’s owners” initiation group held a protest demonstration against the site development of the public territory, the Student Garden, thereby ending signature collecting which appealed to stop the site development. More than 16,000 people joined this protest demonstration within just two weeks, among them Yerevan dwellers, residents of other towns and NGOs.
Articles in regard to this topic are given below.
Green Protest: Activists gathered to protect ‘Students Park’
Siranuysh Gevorgyan, ArmeniaNow
On Friday, May 14, activists of the “We Are the Owners of Our City” civil campaign organized their first event against the construction of two cafes in the area of ‘Student Park’ in Yerevan.
The park’s area has already been closed for about a month because of ongoing construction. Participants of the ‘silent action’ with STOP posters dressed in green, and some with gas masks, stood hand in hand at the construction site in Abovyan Street for about 40 minutes.
In the past two weeks the members of the civil campaign have gathered more than 16,000 signatures from Yerevan residents against the construction of the cafes in the park’s area. Besides, more than 3,000 people joined the “We Are the Owners of Our City” group on Facebook.
Environmentalist and one of activists of the action Mariam Sukhudyan says that dozens of trees have already been cut in the park.
“This is a public park, and it must be fully returned to the public,” says another campaigner Karen Soghomonyan.
Last week the members of the civil campaign met Yerevan’s mayor and at the meeting Mayor Gagik Beglaryan said that if the cafes under construction are knocked down, the activities of the cafes’ owners, that is to say, private companies must be suspended and they must be compensated, because they have legal, contractual rights. The mayor said that under current conditions, the municipality budget cannot afford laying such a burden on its shoulders, because Yerevan has other, more urgent problems to solve. Beglaryan also promised to cooperate with environmentalists.
OMBUDSMAN SUPPORTS 'STUDENT GARDEN' INITIATIVE
ArmInfo
The Armenian Ombudsman Armen Harutyunyan supports “Student Garden” initiative.
As ArmInfo was informed in the Ombudsman’s Office, on 14 May Armen Harutyunyan applied in writing to Yerevan Mayor Gagik Beglaryan with a request to submit the copies of the documents regarding to the construction of cafe (permit for construction, plan, expert opinion etc) within 10 days, as well as the copy of Mayor’s permit on allocation that territory for construction, as well as the copy of the contract concluded.
WHEN WE WILL ALL BECOME OUR CITY’S OWNERS
Siranush Papyan, the Zhamanak
“We are this city’s owners” initiative collected more than 10,000 (under EcoLur, already more than 12 000) against the site development of the Student Garden ...
…Rumors say this territory belong to head of Military police Vova Gasparyan, while according to another version this territory belongs to Vachagan Harutyunyan, Head of Presidential Security Service.
May 14, 2010