www.aravot.am asked Suren Zolyan, the former rector of Yerevan State Linguistic University (YSLU) after V. Bryusov, to comment on the statement of Armen Arabyan, the director of the State Chamber Choir of Armenia, in which he had called Zolyan “obizhnik” (retaliator) and said about the current rector of the university, “Gasparyan lacked the skill of taking bribes and sharing them with the rector. That is why Zolyan appointed a ‘skillful’ specialist to that office who was kicked out of the university two years later.”
During a conversation with us, Mr. Zolyan said that there were currently issues more important than the issue of that woman, Gayane Gasparyan, who, according to his phraseology, sat in the rector’s office. “Frankly speaking, I wasn’t going to talk about that woman; it was done in response to the request of Aravot’s journalist, for which I am terribly sorry. There are much more serious issues worth attending to. However, I am compelled to
respond to Mr. Arabyan’s statement. Since he talked about skills, I must say that this woman does what she is instructed, therefore, her actions and skills are not worth special discussion. I have already made that suggestion that they are going to dissolve YSLU (Bryusov) and to sell the building. I said as early as when I was the rector that the person who would replace me would be the undertaker of the university. As you see there were people who were eager to perform that function.
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“Let us consider this year’s admission as clear evidence. We admitted more than 1200 applicants the year before last – there was actually no admission in the republic last year because of the lack of graduates – whereas this year they weren’t able to admit even 700 students, despite the fact that there were generally 1.5 times more applicants this year. If the processes develop in this direction, it will be logical to merge this university with another university because of the lack of students and to put the building up for sale.”
As for Armen Arabyan, the former rector said that he had found out about him on the internet, “I didn’t know such an artist, I was compelled to connect to the internet to find out who he was and where he had gotten such information on the linguistic university. I found out that Mr. Arabyan had been either a head of department or a director all of his life and had nothing to do with the field of education, it is just strange where he got that information. I also found out that he was an Honored Culture Worker. Let us put aside based on what the Honored Director gives himself the right to assess professional skills necessary for organizing linguistic education. However, it would be good, if the respectful Honored Culture Worker explained who had been kicked out for being a skillful bribe taker, who that person had been and where he had gotten the information that Ms. Gasparyan had been dismissed not for professional incompetence – although it wasn’t defined like that – ‘but because she didn’t take bribes and share them with the rector.’
“It is a serious accusation against both me – because I was the rector at the time – and that “skillful bribe taker” who replaced Ms. Gasparyan. If Mr. Honored Culture Worker has information, he should necessarily communicate it to the competent bodies. Otherwise, it turns out that the Honored Director, disregarding his main job, is engaged in some investigative actions and has information, which the respective bodies are very much interested in and which he must make public and have action be taken on the case, in accordance with the law. After his statement, the Honored Director of the Chamber Choir faces a dilemma – there are two articles of the Criminal Code on either slandering or knowing and not informing. Therefore, let Mr. Arabyan make such reports not to a newspaper, but to the investigation department.
“As for his language, it clearly shows in what condition our culture, particularly official and honored culture, is these days.”
Gohar HAKOBYAN
