Thursday, September 17 2020 15:36

ArmInfo. On September 17, in the afternoon, the Youth Wing of "Prosperous Armenia" picketed in front of the building of the RA Ministry of Education, Science,  Culture and Sports demanding the minister's resignation.

Initially, the action was supposed to be of a longer duration, but at  the very beginning it turned out that the participants had not  notified the Police about it, which is an administrative offense.  After negotiations with law enforcement officers, the protesters  agreed to limit themselves to a three-minute picket, putting aside,  at the request of the police, the pumpkins brought with them as  attributes.

According to the protesters, Harutyunyan is pursuing an anti-Armenian  policy, including by removing the subject "History of the Armenian  Church" from the school curriculum. In addition, according to them,  Harutyunyan's activities at the ministerial post do not correspond to  the development of educational institutions. The picket participants  also stated that RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, with his support  for Harutyunyan, is helping to devalue the Armenian Church and  national values. As noted, street fighting will continue until the  minister resigns.

It should be reminded that on September 16, during the discussion of  the initiative by " Bright Armenia" about distrust of the head of the  Ministry of Education, "Prosperous Armenia" stated that it also joins  this demand. The activities of the minister were sharply criticized  by both factions, and in his closing speech, Harutyunyan addressed to  the PAP and its leader Gagik Tsarukyan, noting that the new  educational standards will teach the <group of Kotayk people> to  respect neighbors and the church, to restrain their hormones, thanks  to which there will be no more sex crimes in churches.

To recall, in 1979 Gagik Tsarukyan was convicted of rape, which, as  the media reported, took place on the territory of the church.  Decades later, Tsarukyan was fully acquitted in this case. According  to the PAP, this criminal case was initiated by Soviet law  enforcement agencies in order to demand 1,500 rubles from the  Tsarukyan family.

Meanwhile, Pashinyan on his Facebook page expressed solidarity to  Harutyunyan. "It's hard to disagree with the Minister of Education.  First, you invite foreign women to the church to show it. Then, as a  police sergeant, on the territory of the church, you participate in  the gang rape of guests and rob them. Then you are engaged in the  protection of national values and national identity. Truly  "patriotic" activity, "the Prime Minister noted, calling for  Harutyunyan's support.  To add, today the parliament voted against  expressing no confidence in Arayik Harutyunyan.