In his speech in Sisian today, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan touched upon the incident that took place in Stepanavan two days ago and apologized to the young man from Kurtan village. He particularly stated the following:
“Yesterday a video showing that the boy has health problems was posted on the Internet. Now I want to analyze my actions and ask myself if I said or did anything wrong to the villager, our dear Mekhak Arakelyan. I want to admit that I made two mistakes. First, I overestimated my ability to assess a person’s health condition, and second, I underestimated the fact that a citizen may feel shy when talking to the Prime Minister. I want to apologize to Mekhak Arakelyan and to all citizens of Armenia for these two mistakes. We all make mistakes, but we won’t be dishonest and insidious towards citizens, especially since I’m certain that his family is in everyone’s focus as a result of my conversation with Mekhak, and I hope the support he receives will be support for his advancement.”
Pashinyan also stated that, based on his notion, a healthy man must work and take care of his family.
On March 7, during Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s visit to Lori Province, 34-year-old resident of Kurtan village Mekhak Arakelyan approached the Prime Minister and asked him for help. During the live broadcast, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan scolded the man and urged him to work and build a home and not address the Prime Miniser with such issues.
Yesterday, Armenian News-NEWS.am’s correspondent visited the wagon in which Mekhak lives with nine other members of his family, including four minor children, and found out that Mekhak has several health problems and lives in very bad conditions. The video sparked great reaction among all circles of the public. Several people have expressed the desire to help Mekhak, and since yesterday, several public and political figures have been expressing the opinion that the Prime Minister was unfair when he scolded Mekhak and many were calling on Pashinyan to apologize to Mekhak.
