YEREVAN. – Demolition of the old building of Zvartnots International Airport—of Armenia’s capital city of Yerevan—would mean removing a chapter in the history of the Armenian people.

Director of the Yerevan State Puppet Theatre, Ruben Babayan, stated the aforesaid at a press conference on Saturday.

“The airport had turned into a humanitarian symbol during the [devastating] Spitak earthquake [that hit the northwestern part of Armenia in 1988],” Babayan said. “It was connecting the world with Armenia. Demolition of this building means discarding the history of the days when the entire world lent us a [helping] hand.”

He added that this building could serve as a museum of world assistance. 

In Ruben Babayan’s words, the legal grounds for the decision to demolish a part of the old building of the airport are unknown.

Yerevan Municipality, however, maintains that permission is granted to tear down the overpass of the old building of the airport, and that respective discussions were held and all parties had agreed.

But numerous Armenian architects say they are against this demolition and that the old building is a cultural value.