“We were not informed, we were saddened that they have begun demolishing. We were trying to go inside to see what is demolished, what is going on there, but it was forbidden in every aspect, as I understood, even the employees of government agencies are unable to enter the area to see what is going on,” – said Mrs. Tarkhanyan about the works of demolishing the round building block of “Zvartnots” airport. As mentioned by the architect, as a result of illegal permits, we are losing one of the symbols of the Armenian people, “We have already lost the Youth Palace, we have seen the results when demolishing permits are issued without a design plan and without the confirmation of the plan, now we are losing our cultural and architectural value, our strategic guarantee in the critical point of the security of the Armenian people.”
As mentioned by Mrs. Tarkhanyan, Armenian businessman Eurnekian for years brought various reasons of demolishing the round building block of the airport, although the agreement clearly states that the airport is leased to him to upgrade, “He brought evidence that the airport cannot be exploited and the available space is impossible to upgrade to comply with modern standards. The international community from cultural aspect reacted that the airport is a historic and important global structure and it is necessary to preserve it. We worked on projects, a committee of engineers was formed, they visited the airport, got acquainted with the situation and confirmed that the building is in good shape and fully complies with the modern standards and there is absolutely no problem with demolishing … and as far as Eurnekian is not a benefactor as he likes to introduce himself but a very simple businessman, we see how his money invested in the airport have affected the cost of the tickets, “In our country, the ticket price is much more expensive than in other countries in the region.” Mrs. Tarkhanyan considers the demolishing of the round building block of the “Zvartnots” airport end in itself, “As to what plans Mr. Eurnekian has, I assume that they are vicious and criminal, especially in this case when we have not yet solved all the problems after the April war, I consider the demolition of the airport a mean stab at the back of the Armenian people, I wonder how it is possible to demolish the national airport in this hard time of Armenia, when it is our only guarantee to establish ties with the outside world.”
Arpine SIMONYAN
Calling a man who has invested hundreds of millions of dollars vicious and criminal, is vicious and criminal on your part. you’re comments are over exaggerated and a disrespectful assessment of the situation, and it is not appreciated. I like you appreciated the old architecture of the airport however inside it was dissapointing, ugly and impractical.