The number of citizens protesting against a bill on opening foreign-language schools in Armenia is increasing outside the government building.
The protesters today met deputies hurrying to a NA sitting with shouts and whistles.
“My mother lived in Iran but she did not know Persian. When I asked her why she did not speak the language, she said that in villages they had been forbidden to speak a foreign language not to pass the infants through mother’s milk. If illiterate peasants realized the simple fact, why shouldn’t our government officials do the same? I fear that in the future, the mothers will breast-feed their children with a lullaby in a foreign language,” said Iranian Armenian Khoren Aramuni who participated at the protest.
Protester Armine Pujikyan says she has no expectations from the National Assembly though she is determined to struggle till the end.
“Recently, I constantly heard Russian words and phrases but I wasn’t concerned since I knew that my mother tongue was not endangered and was protected by the state. But if the bill is adopted, we shall encounter a new conflict, like the one we witnessed in the 80s,” she said.
ARF-Dashnaktsutyun MP Hrayr Karapetyan assured A1+ that their party would vote against the bill.
Freelance deputy Victor Dallakyan claims that the bill conflicts with the country’s constitution.
“Education cannot be exposed to experiments. I think that the government should elaborate a concept to develop the sphere of education and science. The most important question today is which country we long for – a country of casinos, brothels or a democratic republic based on high technologies. Only after answering these questions, should we clarify what citizens Armenia needs to have.”
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