Why was the NA Speaker threatening to deprive Gevorg Petrosyan of his right to speak? Channel 5 distorts facts

In the January 5 issue of “Haylur” newscast of Channel 5 TV, referring to the incident in the National Assembly, after which NA Speaker Ararat Mirzoyan imposed disciplinary sanctions on four PAP MPs, including Gevorg Petrosyan, the journalist noted that Mirzoyan “threatened” to deprive Gevorg Petrosyan of his right to speak out against the Istanbul Convention.

Journalist Karine Mangasaryan said: “It should be reminded that Ararat Mirzoyan had once expressed a wish to deprive Gevorg Petrosyan of his right to speak. It was about the ratification of the so-called Istanbul Convention. When Gevorg Petrosyan talked about the ratification of Istanbul Convention at the National Assembly, Mirzoyan “threatened” to deprive him of the right to speak.”

However, the journalist of Channel 5 distorts facts.

Journalist Karine Mangasaryan’s statement that the NA Speaker “threatened” to deprive Gevorg Petrosyan of his right to speak during the discussion of the Istanbul Convention does not correspond to the reality. The incident involving Gevorg Petrosyan took place on November 12 and had nothing to do with the Istanbul Convention or its ratification. Gevorg Petrosyan introduced his bill on making amendments to the Family Code, proposing to ban same-sex marriage and child adoption. During the introduction of the bill Gevorg Petrosyan said: “Let’s defend the traditional values. Would those who will vote against this bill like to see such a thing happen in their families?” This statement made Ararat Mirzoyan angry.

“Mr. Petrosyan, what are you talking about…? Why are you personalizing things? Will you also put a spell on the voting?”  Mirzoyan said, requesting to pass to him the article on depriving of the right to speak.

Moreover, last year the discussion of the “Istanbul Convention” was not on the agenda of the National Assembly, and no such issue was discussed.

Thus, the claim of the Channel 5 reporter that Ararat Mirzoyan “threatened” to deprive Gevorg Petrosyan of his right to speak during the ratification of the “Istanbul Convention” is incorrect.

Note that on January 21, speaking about the bill on the fight against criminal subculture, Gevorg Petrosyan noted that the bill is not aimed at fight against crime but some “uncertain phenomena”. “There is a word comprised of three letters [he allegedly meant the word “whore”] that comes with this phenomenon. You’d better fight against that one” Petrosyan said. In response, independent MP Arman Babajanyan called for the PAP to apologize for Petrosyan’s behavior. It was followed by a dispute, then a scuffle in the National Assembly hall.

After the incident, Ararat Mirzoyan imposed disciplinary sanctions on four PAP deputies by removing them from the NA session hall.

Ani Avetisyan