One will hardly find a person in Armenia, who is not shocked by the tragedy in Gyumri, however, the tragedy should be considered from the legal viewpoint, Armenian Minister of Education and Science, Deputy Head of the Republican Party of Armenia Armen Ashotyan told journalists on January 14.
As regards the Armenian Prosecutor General's Office's Jan 13 statement that the issue of transfer of serviceman Valery Permyakov, who has murdered a family of six in Gyumri, to the Armenian law- enforcers is not being discussed, Minister Ashotyan refused to comment on it and stressed that he is not an expert in legal issues. He also emphasized that using the crime in Gyumri in domestic political aspects means to show disrespect for the tragedy victims.
When commenting on the calls to declare mourning for the victims, Ashotyan said that Armenia has no culture of declaring days of mourning. He recalled that in November 2014 a road accident in Shirak region claimed 7 lives but no mourning was declared in the country.
To recall, a family of 6 was viciously murdered in Gyumri. On Jan 12, soldier of the 102nd military base in Gyumri Valery Permyakov left his post. He penetrated into the house of the Avetisyans and shot 6 members of the family dead. Only their 6-month-old baby has survived. The soldier left his uniform and gun at the scene. He escaped wearing casual clothing. After a daylong search, he was detained near Bayandur village on the Armenian- Turkey border by the frontier guards. Permyakov has already admitted to the murder.