Thursday, September 25 2014

"Surik Khachatryan's reappointment as Syunik Governor was a loud slap in the face of Armenia and the Armenian people," Naira Zohrabyan, secretary of the parliamentary faction of the Prosperous Armenian Party, told ArmInfo. 

Zohrabyan said she was shocked to hear that news. Nevertheless, she is not sure that the voice of the Sunik residents who are now protesting against the Government's decision will be heard.  "If the Government reckoned with the residents of Syunik, it would not reappoint Surik Khachatryan. Therefore, they can hardly change anything post factum," Zohrabyan said.

On September 25 the Armenian Government again appointed Surik Khachatryan as Syunik Governor. The appointment has sparked protests among residents of Goris, Syunik region. Earlier, they warned to block to road to Goris in case of Khachatryan's appointment.

To recall, Khachatryan resigned from the post of the Syunik Governor following shootouts in front of his house on June 2 2013 when the former candidate for Goris mayor Avo Budaghyan was killed and his brother Artak Budaghyan, a commander at a military unit in the NKR was wounded.  There was another wounded, Nikolay Arustamyan, a relative and bodyguard of Governor Suren Khachartyan.  

Syunik Governor Suren Khachatryan's son, Tigran Khachatryan, was arrested over the shootouts.  Earlier, the governor's bodyguard Zarzand Nikoghosyan was arrested over the case.  However, the Court terminated the case and set free the Governor's son and his friend. 

To calm down the tensions in Syunik, parliamentarian Vahe Hakobyan, the son of Zangezour copper and molybdenum plant's ex-director Maksim Hakobyan, was appointed as Syunik Governor. However, according to ArmInfo's data, Surik Khachatryan, who enjoys the support of the country's leadership, put a spoke in the young governor's wheel.  Actually, Vahe Hakobyan was reluctant to send in his resignation.