Political analyst Derenik Malkhasyan established the Gyumri 20/25 initiative and foundation with Doctor of Historical Sciences Hayk Demoyan. The goal of the initiative is to establish unique museums in Gyumri, such as an Armenian photographic art museum, a sports museum, a research institute, and centers to support tourists so that the city can become even more special. Malkhasyan told Aravot Daily, “I believe that the process to change Gyumri has already begun. However, it will take many years for the city to be free of its poor, wretched, and homeless stereotype both in terms of how people from the outside view it and how people in the city think. Let me give an example. After people began to pay attention to Gyumri, especially officials from Yerevan, the real estate market grew active, particularly in the city center. And many Gyumri residents are trying to sell their ancestors’ homes in order to make lots of money. It’s normal and natural that people want to make money, but on the other hand, people are still not motivated, they are not becoming more active in trying to offer something to Gyumri’s tourists.”
He continued, “Now there is a boom in hotels; hotels are constantly opening. In most cases, people from outside Armenia purchase those buildings and create hotels. People don’t think about how they can simply not sell their homes and instead create hotels, small cafes, or bakeries out of them. This is a result of the mentality that Gyumri is poor and they can’t do anything. This is the right moment: homes are more expensive and people need to get rid of them to make money and do other things. We need to be the catalysts for a change in the city’s mentality so that people can understand that they’re the continuation of Gyumri’s cultural heritage. We need to motivate people and get rid of the poor mentality. But this cannot be done through making statements. It demands work. Many years ago, Gyumri was empty, nobody came here. They considered themselves to be cut off from the world. But right now, thank God, there’s movement and you can see a lot of activity in the city on the weekends. However, when I say ‘a lot,’ this is in comparison to the past. Different initiatives need to be put in place that will generate movement towards Gyumri.”
According to Derenik Malkhasyan, the city also needs to be prepared to accept such movement, and not just in terms of tourists, but also in terms of state authorities.
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“Due to making the tourist component more active, Gyumri has somewhat been freed of the wretched, poor, and homeless stereotype. Constantly speaking about container houses and homelessness has a bad effect on people. These problems do exist, but in the end, we can only be free of these problems through development,” Malkhasyan said.
Nune Arevshatyan
