Today, relatives of the 5 crew members killed as a result of the “Yak-40”air crash in 2001, continued their protest in front of the Government Building in Yerevan for the fourth day. They are demanding an audience with Prime Minister Sargsyan and the continuation of pensions halted as of 2007. “We lost family bread-winners. There are no more men in our homes. The children are hungry. How will we cope?” complained the women, holding up signs of their demands. The “Armenian Airlines” company went belly up and later dissolved. As a result, the family members haven’t been able to receive the monies due them.

Hayk Simonyan, from the Citizens Admission Division, met with the women, telling them that the government was not in a position to help them. “There are hundreds of companies that go bankrupt, leaving unpaid debts. The government just can’t step in and pay off all their liabilities,” Mr. Simonyan stated. He urged the women to be patient until the government sold off a piece of land belonging to Armenian Airlines” near the shore of Lake Sevan in order to pay them the pensions owed. “My kids are hungry. How should I explain to them to wait? People are getting ready to celebrate the holidays and they want me to tell them to hold on until they sell off some land?” argued Susanna Grigoryan, one of the protestors. Not getting what they believed to be a satisfactory answer from the government official, the women took their protest to the Presidential Palace, hoping to attract the ear of President Sargsyan himself.