“I have not spent my holidays in Turkey and I am not even going to do it”, such opinion was expressed by Republican Party MP Karen Avagyan, in response to the question of Aravot.am of whether he had been in Turkey for holidays. He was in Turkey to attend the protest “No holidays in Turkey”.
In an interview with us, Karen Avagyan emphasized he wishes for the youth organizations not to be apart from such events and in general, the events dedicated to the Armenian Genocide Centennial. In this respect, the Republican Party MP noted, “I am saying this so that we could voice and condemned rather than only speaking amongst ourselves and disseminate, but so that it would also go beyond the borders of the country through the youth. At least, the travel agencies should also understand that citizens, especially young people, have decided that they should not organize their holidays in Turkey at least this year.”
To our observation that the MPs are the first ones among the active vacationers in Turkey, Mr. Avagyan responded, “I will not separate the MPs: too many politicians, representatives of various political parties spend their holidays in Turkey. On my part, I can say that I have not and even am going to spend my holidays in Turkey. Although, at first glance, it is a better option to organize the holidays, as especially with regard to prices, I have keep me and my family apart from organizing holidays in Turkey.”
According to Republicans Party member, at first glance, this may seem not a problematic matter, but “in reality, when you are a little consistent and study the entire volume, you realize that just a large amount of money is leaving our country for Turkey.” To our reminder that many MPs spending their holidays in Turkey try to assure that it has nothing to do with patriotism, Mr. Avagyan responded as follows, “They are funding such local tourist agencies, respective hotel complexes, leave money there, participate in some economic processes, and if funding has nothing to do with them and it does not contain elements of patriotism, then it is up to them. I do not understand how patriotism is perceived by them.”
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Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
