Government ‘postpones’ opening of monument in Yerevan for 5 times now

The opening of a monument in Yerevan dedicated to relations between Armenia and the Arab world has for five times been postponed, according to an article by the Armenian-langue newspaper Azdak published in Lebanon.

The author, Met Terterian, writes that the construction of the “Arabic Gratitude” was completed in March 2009. He then claims that last time Armenia’s government has postponed the opening was on October 5 this year.

He slow writes that the government had initially agreed to celebrate the opening with great fanfare with the presence of foreign ambassadors, the president and the Catholicos.

Further, he writes that the sculptor, Varoujan Salatyan, conceived the idea by taking into account two factors – the geopolitical fortune Armenia and the Arab world shared, and the assistance Arabs generally provided the survivors of the Armenian Genocide.

Terterian then asks if the decision by Armenia’s government to postpone the opening of the monument has been made under pressure from Turkey, Israel and US.