Yerevan`s "green purge" hits Amiryan street

ArmInfo. The administration of Mayor Tigran Avinyan is facing renewed accusations of "ecocide" after healthy, decades-old elm trees were uprooted on Amiryan Street-one of the capital's most iconic central thoroughfares.

Kristina Vardanyan, a member of the Yerevan City Council and  Associate Professor of Hygiene and Ecology, took to social media to  criticize  the move, labeling the municipal program "barbarism."  She  also noted that Since 2023, thousands of trees have been removed  under the guise of "urban renewal." The city's own "scientists" first  recommended aggressive pruning that weakened the trees, and are now  using that self-inflicted damage as a justification for total  removal. Vardanyan hinted at "systemic corruption" driving these  lucrative landscaping contracts.

 "They say there's a good fairy tale called 'Systemic Corruption':  Dear residents of Yerevan, for three years, with the mandate you  entrusted to me, I have tried my best to explain to the ruling  authorities the devastating consequences of this program for all of  us. Unfortunately, my interests and theirs differ. Just one question  haunts me: in the face of Iran's bombing, why are you stripping the  city bare? What is the purpose?" she asked.

It should be noted that a new footage of  another ecocide in Yerevan  has been shared on Armenian social media today. Moreover, Yerevan  authorities are deaf to calls from environmentalists to stop the  desertification of Yerevan, where the air is  polluted due to the  government's misguided policies   posing a significant health risk to  residents.