People in Yerevan demand authorities to declare Day of Morning for Gyumri victims (video)
Scores of citizens today gathered at Liberty Square in Yerevan to pay tribute to the members of the Avetisyan family who were killed in Gyumri city on January 12. They say it is shameful that Armenian authorities do not push for the handover of Valery Permyakov, the Russian soldier accused of the murder, to Armenian law enforcers. Moreover, they view it is a menace threatening Armenia’s sovereignty. Talking to A1+, many expressed confidence that the appalling crime in Gyumri was organized by external forces, namely by Turkey and Azerbaijan. The group then held a march to the presidential residence (at 26 Baghramyan avenue) to demand that a day of mourning be declared in the country for those killed in the Monday massacre. Reaching the residence they turned their backs to the building as a sign of protest. Six members of the Avetisyan family in Gyumri, including a small little child, were brutally murdered on Monday morning. Seryozha Avetisyan, his wife Hasmik, daughter Aida, son Armen, daughter-in-law Araksya, and two-year-old granddaughter Hasmik, were found killed, when a relative-neighbor came to the house for morning coffee. A six-month-old infant, the only survivor of the brutal murder, was hospitalized with severe stab wounds in his chest. Valery Permyakov, the Russian soldier suspected of the killing, was detained on the same day when attempting to cross the border with Turkey. Permyakov had served at Russian military base N 102 in Gyumri. Today, Permyakov has been accused of murder under Article 104 of the Armenian Criminal Code.
