YEREVAN. - Chair of Culturology in the Yerevan State University (YSU), Hamlet Petrosyan, who is also the head of the Artsakh archaeological expedition at the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, has not yet met with the new Armenian Culture Minister Armen Amiryan, but one episode involving the Culture Ministry has strongly disappointed him.

According to the archaeologist, no meetings at any level have yet been proposed to him, but about ten days ago in response to his message about the destruction of a unique monument, another message appeared on the Ministry website accusing him of disseminating false information.

Petrosyan noted that the unique monument on the Silk Road is the Harzhis carvansarai and old road in Armenia’s Syunik province. During his last trip, the specialists found out that 150 m of the preserved 13th century road had been buried by bulldozer.  In response to his angry post on Facebook, the Ministry of Culture disseminated a message on its website, noting that this was not the first time Hamlet Petrosyan had been disseminating false information. They also posted a photo taken from a different angle.  And when he called to the Ministry to inquire as to why they didn’t publish the right photos, he was told: “The old road was restored.”

The archaeologist thinks that if he notifies about a problem loudly, they should thank him for this. “The Ministry's task is not to moralize me, but preserve the monuments,” he said.