YEREVAN. – The architects must do everything so that the old building of Zvartnots International Airport is not demolished.

Mkrtich Minasyan, Chairman of the Union of Architects of Armenia, noted the above-said at a press conference on Saturday.

“We are saying, ‘Bring all the possible options, let’s look [at them] and then, if there are places to be demolished, demolish [them] because such small demolition can bring [about] major demolition,” added Minasyan.

He noted that in 2014, the architects had petitioned to the Ministry of Culture, with a request that Zvartnots airport be put on the list of monuments that are protected by the Armenian state; but no respective step was taken.

“Now, the Ministry of Culture is unable to do anything, since [i.e. the airport] is not on the list,” noted the head of the Union of Architects of Armenia.

Architect Sashur Kalashyan, for his part, said the reasoning that the old building of Zvartnots airport is unsafe, and therefore it needs to be demolished forthwith, is flawed.

“The airport is the property of our state,” noted Kalashyan. “And everything must be done so that the old building of Zvartnots airport is not demolished. (…). What they want to solve can be done by preserving the building.”

The concessionaire of Zvartnots International Airport, in capital city Yerevan, has begun dismantling the overpass of the old building of the airport, and this has caused discontent among the Armenian public.