Dear Mr. Ernekian, 

I am writing to you firstly as an architect who proudly presents the brand new Zvartnots airport of Yerevan to his international colleagues and friends.

I am also writing to you as a young first generation diasporan who is proud of the investments and innovative projects that our diasporan brothers and sisters spread all around the globe are doing in Armenia.

Karas wine is one of those successful examples, which is yet another reason to be proud of Armenia because of you.

And finally, I am writing to you as an urban planner who, since the early 2000s, has been trying to influence and direct the developments taking place in Yerevan city center in a more sustainable direction and towards the objective of heritage preservation. Unfortunately we have not had much success in this direction yet. But thanks to the relatively open approach of the government of Armenia over the last few years and also the accessibility of the press and social networks, we local Armenians are more aware of, and sensitive to, our rights. In the last few years, in spite of many unacceptable projects, the youth of Armenia managed to save the open air hall of Moscow cinema, Mashtots Park – in the heart of Yerevan - and several other valuable buildings and public spaces. 

Honorable Mr. Ernekian,

The reason that I am writing this letter to you is to present the situation that has been created concerning the current Foreign Ministry of Armenia building.

This building which was built by the accomplished architects of the 1950’s Samvel Safaryan, Varazdat Arevshatyan and Rafo Israelyan is one of the cornerstones of Republic Square of Yerevan.

This square, which is considered the masterpiece of one of the greatest and talented architects of the 20th century, Alexander Tamanyan and several other individuals, won a USSR State Prize in 1970 as a whole complex. The square with its five buildings, statue of Lenin (demolished in 1996) and fountains was, and still is included in  the Immobile Historical and Cultural Monuments of Yerevan State List which was  approved by the Government of the Republic in 2004, as the most important - Republican (National) monument (Decree No. 1616-N, October 7, 2004; monument No. 96). The Law on the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments and Protection and Exploitation of Historical Environments of Armenia (approved in 1998) sets down very  strict regulations for making any changes on Republican (National) Monuments. For example, for each change, you are obliged to get the agreement of the Government of the Republic. I do no doubt that that Government of the Republic of Armenia who sold the building to Tango LLC, and then announced an unsuccessful open tender, will approve any change or extension on that building. But I just want to mention that, for the sake of drawing in investments, all our Governments have been and are ready to ignore the national legislation, national heritage and the rights of citizens to be informed of planned changes in our immediate environment. In particular, for this building no public hearing or expert discussion has been held. Moreover, this issue has not been discussed by the authorized state body, which is the Ministry of Culture, as is the requirement of the Law. 

Honorable Mr. Ernekian,

As an architect who has personally measured the whole building in the early 2000s, I assure you out that in order to transform this building to a five-star hotel,you will be forced to completely tear down the interior of the building.

It means that after paying around 50 million US$ for this building your designers and architects will not be able to keep the magnificent interiors of the building, which are also an inseparable element of this monument, where part of our newly-independent history was shaped and written, where many foreign officials have negotiated and discovered our newly- independent dream - land of Republic of Armenia. At the end of the day you will find yourself in a grave situation and you will be forced to keep only the envelope (external walls) of the building and ruin the entire interior of the building- a building which symbolizes the right of the Republic of Armenia, as an independent country, to have a sovereign foreign policy: the Second Governmental Building – the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Armenia. 

Dear Mr. Ernekian,

I am approaching you as a citizen of Armenia, who is proud of all your initiatives, including the “a laptop for each school-child“ project in Artsakh; do not cast a shadow over your patriotic past and reputation in Armenia by doing this project. All Armenians around the world are proud of your airport, wine and Nur project in Artsakh and I beg you not to give anybody the opportunity to compare you with the oligarchs that we have in Armenia. Some of them are ready to ruin the whole 19th century heritage of Yerevan in order to build Northern Avenue, or to ruin the fantastic Yerevan Covered Market in order to build a supermarket. Diasporans have brought a new mentality and dimension to Armenia over the last 20 years, which in its turn has improved the business environment and must continue to do so. 

Once again I call on you to take a step back and re-evaluate this transaction within the context of the last two decades in Armenia and your valuable contribution and role in it.  

Looking forward to hearing about an annulment on the transaction for the MFA building. 

With best Regards, 

Sarhat Petrosyan

Architect, Urban Planner

Research Principal and Founder of the urbanlab Yerevan