– Mr. Ghukasyan, have you turned in your resignation?
– It’s a lie. There is nothing like that.
– There are rumors in Yerevan that your resignation is quite expected any second now.
– It is not true. Tomorrow (that is today) I am going to work. Tomorrow I will go and work for half an hour. Oh, I mean half of the day.
– Is it true that your apartment has been searched by masked people?
– No, no, they are lying.
– What news do you have from your son?
– He’s not here.
– Not in the country?
– Well, I don’t know exactly.
– On Sunday rumors were spread that your son was arrested and that he’d been wounded in the shoulder.
– They are lying, they are lying.
– Do you know if he’s wounded or not?
– No, no, no.
– Have you at least found out for yourself who started the gunfire and why?
– No, nothing is clear for me yet. Nothing will be clear till the court trial (maybe he means the investigation – L.S.) is over. Whoever is guilty must answer for the deeds.
– Is your son capable of such things?
– No.
– Are you sure?
– I don’t believe it because he is not like that. This is the first time people are saying such things about him. Until now I haven’t seen anything like this done by him.
– How does he behave at home?
– Very polite, respective to elders, and alert.
– Did he obey you?
– Definitely, definitely. He was modest. If he weren’t modest I wouldn’t let him into our home. I mean, he wouldn’t have any relations with me. If he violated the law he should be punished; if not the trial will show this and everything will be fixed.
– Are you not worrying about where he is now?
– How can I not? I have one son. And how can I not worry? Even if he is a bad son the parent worries anyway.
– How can you not be aware of the whereabouts of your son, especially when they are saying that he’s wounded?
– As to being wounded, I’d like to surely say that he wasn’t wounded. Regarding those other accusations I doubt that he’s part of it. The future will show. Regarding my resignation, I’d like to say that it’s the people who voted for me. Besides no one has ever told me to write a letter of resignation. Besides that, I’m not the one involved in those deeds, to where I should resign. I don’t have any direct participation.
– But if your party, the RPA, decides that you should resign, will you?
– To be honest, the party will not decide such a thing, besides, it’s the people who elected me. No one made me mayor. No party has supported me, just the people. If I feel that people don’t like me, I won’t stay here even a day.
– But people usually don’t like the government. Why would they like you?
– Yes, but they love me. If you come to Gyumri and walk around you will truly see that I am the only beloved mayor (of course there are also other elected persons, whom the people like besides me). Just know that they like me. If they didn’t like me I wouldn’t ever stay in my current position.
– How do you feel that people like you?
– If you come and walk with me in the town you will see that everybody is kissing my hand; they say, “son, wherever you go may success guide you.” If you come and see all that you will be astonished.
– But the media always says that they don’t like you in Gyumri and that you had made Gyumri your property…
– As to the media, they will write whatever order they have. All the media has one goal. Whatever order they get, that’s the way they write it. That’s the reason that I neither watch nor read the news because I know 99% of it is not true. If you come and walk around with me you will see how respected I am. Whenever somebody needs anything they immediately come to me. There is no gap between the people and me. We came together and will leave together.
– They say that your son, together with his colleagues, had been instigating Rostom Sargsyan for days to ensure an incident would take place…
– They are lying. They were very close to each other. They are inventing all those stories.
– Didn’t he splash beer on Rostom Sargsyan’s face?
– It’s not true, not true. These rumors are not about my son; those are about the kid, who’s dead now.
– Was your son loved in Gyumri?
– Let me tell you something. If people didn’t like him or respect him I’d be the first one to hate him. I’m a person who likes to respect and be respected. If I feel that he behaves presumptuously and is hated by the people, he’ll become my enemy. But if you come here, and walk around, you will see that people like him.
– I haven’t walked around in Gyumri but I know that your son has been always starting fights in the town and feeling himself as the owner of the town.
– If they bring me definite examples of such evidence I will believe them. All this is slander. My son is married, studies part-time, and is very polite. He always helps the poor and vulnerable, and is always doing his best for his friends.
– You said that your son may even have started a gunfight if somebody touched his dignity or his friends’ dignity.
– There wouldn’t be gunfire. But if the friend needed help, he’d definitely participate. I know that nothing like this happened and all these things about him were made up. At the end of the trial everything will become clear. If he’s guilty he will be punished, if not, then good for him.
– What can you say about your brother’s grandson, Artyom Ghukasyan? It turns out that they were driving his car.
– No, he’s even more polite. He’s quite far from such things.
– But they were driving his car.
– No, this is a mistake too. When the court case is over everything will become clear.
– I’d like to ask a question, which doesn’t relate to our theme. They say that once in one of the churches out of the town you held a service. Is that true?
– Yes, and once you write that, they are going to say different things. The other time they wrote satirizing me, saying that the mayor is using the name of God. It was a tragedy and shame for them. Many people may not understand me, but I am glad that I live by the name of the God.
– What church did you hold the service in?
– There are so many. I don’t even know which one to mention.
– Does this mean that such things have happened many times?
– Yes. One of them was in the Ani Cathedral.
– Was there no priest?
– No I was acting like a priest. The Turkish soldiers didn’t want me to, but I did anyway. I even have the tapes of all this. In Ani I said that those territories belong to us. One day when you come to Gyumri I will show you those tapes.
– Thank to you, but people are afraid to come to Gyumri.
– No, don’t be scared. Come to Gyumri.
– They shoot all the time.
– No, we will free you from your fear.