The "Fact" daily writes:
"In recent days, the issue of not mentioning" Gyumri Day "became active. Although Mayor Vardan Ghukasyan has announced that "the city will definitely celebrate" Gyumri Day "," Some of the holiday issues have been temporarily postponed because the City Hall's Culture Department has not submitted a complete financial report. "
And the reality is that the problem is not only to celebrate the celebration of a given day or not. Gyumri, which is one of the cultural and tourist centers of Armenia, remained without any state-organized event at all this year.
A city whose name has been associated with festivals, cultural enthusiasm and crowded squares for years, now it seems to be forgotten.
Even the Government's traditionally organized festival, "FESTIVAR", was not taken in the city, which was to become one of the main events of the year. Meanwhile, logic suggests that such measures should not be an exception, but a tradition.
According to the people of Gyumri, all this happens because Gyumri has an opposition mayor. The impression is that the attitude of the authorities is not conditioned by the city's capabilities or cultural potential, but only according to political calculations. The city, in fact, has become a stage of the political struggle, and the celebrations, the speculation tool.
Meanwhile, the people of Gyumri, like every year, are waiting not only to the city holiday, but also at the atmosphere of other regular meetings, concerts, guests and consolidation. Instead, they get inattention and silence. Gyumri, with its unique culture, history and hospitality, deserves state attention. But today it is used as a "punishment" mechanism to elect an opposition leader. As a result, not politicians have suffered, but the residents of the city prove today today, it is always more than just the administrative unit.
It is a symbol of the identity, endurance and creativity of the Armenians. And ignoring and reducing the dignity of that symbol is not only a political mistake, but also national.