Armen Sargsyan was the first one who visited Vazgen Sargsyan’s grave
in Yerablur on October 27. Some workers of the colonial department
accompanied him there at 1 a.m. in the morning. According to the
on-duty workers at Yerablur, they have opened the Yerablur church at
night because Armen wanted to light a candle for Vazgen. After that,
they took him back to the jailhouse.
In the early hours, there was nobody else in Yerablur besides the
soldiers of the Military Police (MP). We met with Chief MP Vladimir
Gasparyan at Vazgen Sargsyan’s grave. He and some of the soldiers were
placing dark red lilies on the grassy area near the grave. President of
the Committee of Parents of Deceased Soldiers Aramayis MIkaelyan
described V. Gasparyan as a “legendary general” who always reaches
Yerablur first to pay respect to the Commander-in-Chief’s grave. “He is
the only one that does that. He always shows respect. Who doesn’t know
about that?” says A. Mikaelyan. “For me, Vazgen was neither a Prime
Minister, nor just a minister. He was my friend,” says V. Gasparyan. We
asked if Vazgen Sargsyan had many friends, and Vladimir Gasparyan held
up his hands, showed his ten fingers and said: “I can barely count all
of them.” During this brief conversation, we had taken notice of the
fact that the bouquets brought by the National Assembly and the
Republican political party had made their way to the grave. To much
surprise, Vladimir Gasparyan said: “You were standing facing backwards
and you did not see when two guys brought the bouquet really fast and
then went to the Republican’s car, but the National Assembly brought it
in a “Gazel”. “This year it is different. It’s better. Last year
National Assembly deputies had come, put the bouquet near the “borders”
of the entrance of Yerablur. Then at night, the workers saw the bouquet
and were forced to bring it to the grave,” said one of the women
working there as she picked up the petals of the flower off the ground.
Next was the President of the Board of Humanitarian Projects of the
Government of the Republic of Armenia Vladimir Movsisyan with his hands
behind him. Then, the “Azgayin Miabanutyun” (National Unity) political
party, and the judges of the Constitutional Court with President Gagik
Harutyunyan came to Yerablur. The official visits were in full swing
after 10:00. At around 10:45, two old men brought the bouquet of
flowers from the government and at the same time a bouquet was sent by
Robert Kocharyan. They had not managed to place the bouquets in the
first row when all of sudden the military officers of the Ministry of
Defense brought a bouquet. Let’s mention the fact that all the bouquets
brought by Robert Kocharyan, the Constitutional Court and the Ministry
of Defense all looked the same. The only difference was in Robert
Kocharyan’s bouquet which had a three-color ribbon on it. During this
brief conversation, we had taken notice of the fact that the bouquets
brought by the National Assembly and the Republican political party had
made their way to the grave. To much surprise, Vladimir Gasparyan said:
“You were standing facing backwards and you did not see when two guys
brought the bouquet really fast and then went to the Republican’s car,
but the National Assembly brought it in a “Gazel”. “This year it is
different. It’s better. Last year National Assembly deputies had came,
put the bouquet near the “borders” of the entrance of Yerablur. Then at
night, the workers saw the bouquet and were forced to bring it to the
grave,” said one of the women working there as she picked up the petals
of the flower off the ground. Next was the President of the Board of
Humanitarian Projects of the Government of the Republic of Armenia
Vladimir Movsisyan, coming with his hands behind him. Then, the
“Azgayin Miabanutyun” (National Unity) political party, and the judges
of the Constitutional Court with President Gagik Harutyunyan came to
Yerablur. The official visits were in full swing after 10:00. At around
10:45, two old men brought the bouquet of flowers from the government
and at the same time a bouquet was sent by Robert Kocharyan. They had
not managed to place the bouquets in the first row when all of a sudden
the military officers of the Ministry of Defense brought a bouquet.
Let’s mention the fact that the bouquets brought by Robert Kocharyan,
the Constitutional Court and the Ministry of Defense all looked the
same. The only difference was in Robert Kocharyan’s bouquet which had a
ribbon with the three colors of the Armenian flag on it. When the
officials of the Ministry of Defense came, the people who had brought
the bouquets sent by Robert Kocharyan and the government officials had
not been able to place the bouquets in time and they were just
wandering around for a while. The commander of the honor guard
battalion patrol Ashot Hakobyan, who was one of the people who had
brought the Ministry of Defense’s bouquet, for some reason claimed
himself to be the one to decide where each bouquet should be placed.
Perhaps the most interesting part was the sorting of bouquets. A.
Hakobyan was in charge of placing each one. “Let the bouquet brought by
government officials stay in its place. Whose is this? This is from the
“Azgayin Mibanutyun” (National Unity). Take out all the bouquets
brought by the political parties and push them back. There will be more
political parties bringing bouquets, so we have to make some room. This
is from the “Artarutyun” (Justice) union. Take this one back too. This
one belongs to the Republicans. It is fine where it is. Just take it a
little back and put the legs down (he means into the grass-L.S.). Take
the National Assembly’s bouquet over there and push the Azgayin
Miabanutyun” bouquet back. It looks good overall. Bring the one brought
by the Ministry of Defense here, put the President’s in the middle, and
the one by the Constitutional Court there. (he fixes the ribbon on the
President’s bouquet so that the written part appears-L.S.).” The
bouquet sent by the government officials was supported by crutches and
thus made it harder to adjust overall. So, A. Hakobyan suggested the
people bringing new ones to “cut the crutches of the government’s
bouquet”. “What if it gets crooked?” said one of the people holding the
bouquet. “If it is straight, then we need a saw. What else can we do?”
said A. Hakobyan. They decided not to “cut the feet” of the bouquet,
but rather to stick the “back legs” in the ground. “It looks laid down
like that,” said the government official with an upset look on his
face. “It’s OK,” said A. Hakobyan trying to calm him down. After the
long torture, it was “decided” which one was supposed to be there. As
for Robert Kocharyan, he did not get a chance to visit Yerablur
yesterday. As a matter of fact, he did not even visit the Vazgen
Sargsyan home/museum.
P.S. Let’s not forget to mention that Gevorg from the Armenian National
Movement was helping V. Gasparyan in decorating Vazgen Sargsyan’s grave
starting from the early hours in the morning.