“Arpine Hovhannisyan needs to talk facts. She can also conditionally say the names of her mother and her unknown father,” the chair of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Defense and Security, Andranik Kocharyan, said in an interview with 1in.
This statement was not only criticized and condemned by members of Arpine Hovhannisyan’s political party, but many other political figures as well. They also used this opportunity to speak about the hate speech many female politicians face.
For example, head of the Bright Armenia political party Edmon Marukyan wrote, “It is condemnable and extremely unacceptable to insult, ridicule, and turn a female politician’s personal life into a topic of discussion in the way that deputy Andranik Kocharyan did towards Arpine Hovhannisyan. As a parliamentary deputy, I apologize for this entire situation and this political culture. I hope that Kocharyan will apologize for his behavior, which was inappropriate for an Armenian man and for a deputy.”
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Vice Speaker of the National Assembly Lena Nazaryan wrote on her Facebook page, “One’s personal life, appearance, wife, husband, and parents are not political topics. I am sorry that we have not come to this realization yet in political discussions. Establishing a new culture demands personal efforts from everyone. This also applies to former officials, anti-government newspapers, and people on social media. People have spread so much hate, misogyny, and invasions of others’ personal lives that they should look at their own pages instead of talking.”