Opposition MP accuses Armenian premier of lies 

ArmInfo.  Lilit Galstyan, a member of the Armenian parliament from the opposition "Armenia" faction, has accused Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of lying  regarding the restoration of the Tsitsernakaberd memorial complex to  the victims of the Armenian Genocide.

The MP noted that on April 18, Pashinyan, who visited the Armenian  Genocide Memorial in the presence of Minister of Education, Science,  Culture, and Sports Zhanna Andreasyan, confidently and assertively  stated on camera that "no one" had restored the Genocide Memorial for  60 years. "It's sad that the monument's co-author, Sashur Kalashyan,  who was present at the meeting, swallows this lie and makes no  attempt to correct it. It's sad that Minister Andreasyan, who by  virtue of her position should have known the history of the  restoration of a monument of national significance, confirms this  lie. But silence is more profitable... Moreover, lies are a  competitive advantage for this administration: to lie, to deny  without shame, to mislead and demonize the former... And the  Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex, which commemorates the innocent  victims of the Armenian Genocide, has been repeatedly restored and  improved over its 60-year history," the MP wrote on her Facebook  page.

The opposition member recalled that the Memorial Complex was restored  in 2003 as part of the 90th anniversary of the Genocide, with funds  from the LINCY Foundation. The stones were replaced, the bunker was  thoroughly modernized, the monument was completely sandblasted, the  irrigation network was completely replaced, new lighting was  installed, curbs were replaced, extensive tree planting was carried  out, a sound system was installed, the stairs were repaired, and the  pedestrian path was redesigned.

According to her, 22 years ago, unlike today's shameful restoration  process, during the reconstruction of the memorial complex, supported  by the LINCY Foundation, everything, including the urban planning,  architectural, and historical-cultural aspects, was preserved. "The  memorial was also restored during the 100th anniversary of the  Genocide, when recognition and condemnation of the Genocide became  part of the foreign policy agenda, and representatives from more than  80 countries were expected to visit the Memorial to honor the memory  of the victims and condemn the unforgivable crime of Genocide.

On April 24, 1995, during the 80th anniversary of the Genocide, the  Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute was opened, becoming the fourth  component of the memorial dedicated to the memory of the victims of  the Armenian Genocide. And unlike your administration, no previous  administration has been afraid of programs to perpetuate the memory  of the Armenian Genocide and internationalize this issue, and has not  succumbed to Turkish pressure to deny our past and memory, even  during Soviet times," Galstyan wrote, backing up her words with  photographic evidence.