Taron Margaryan says private property is the material cornerstone of public life

In a statement issued yesterday, Yerevan Mayor Taron Margaryan says the construction taking place at the intersection of Mashtots and Koghpatsi streets is of a temporary nature and not in a green-space.

Mayor Margaryan says it’s time for all to turn down the rhetoric and emotions and look at the issue based on facts.

The mayor adds that he’s a firm believer in the principle that there can be no development without the protection of private property rights. He goes as far as saying that “private property” is the material basis on which public life flourishes.

Mayor Margaryan says that owners of dismantled commercial establishments on the sidewalks of Abovyan Street did have property rights there that needed to be compensated and that several alternate sites, including the Mashtots area, were offered to them.

Furthermore, the mayor argues that the Mashtots site was in a state of disuse and disrepair and was “adjacent” to the park.

In conclusion, the mayor states that while he happy to see Yerevan residents express their concern about the future of the city, despite the criticism directed at the mayor’s office, “important and complicated private property issues cannot be resolved through a personal viewpoint of what justice is.”