Education, Science, Culture and Sports Minister Arayik Harutyunyan’s rating remains low. During our monitoring period, various critical media reports have been published, one of which states that Arayik Harutyunyan used to work for “Transparency International”, one of the donor organizations of which is the Soros Foundation. This fact was presented in a bad light. The same publication notes that Arayik Harutyunyan is also known for his negative attitude towards the priests of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
Former MP Anahit Bakhshyan spoke about the education sphere and expressed concerns. She particularly noted: “There are many promises, many words. The Prime Minister says we should encourage young people, the Minister repeats the same, but how should all this be, what processes do they undertake when scientists complain all the time about the amount of funding and operating procedures? I do not see any concept, any document of strategic importance which would specifically deal with the funding of the activities of young scientists.”
The media outlets continue to recall Araik Harutyunyan’s meeting with the LGBTIQ representative Karabina (Garik). In an article republished by some news outlets, one could find insulting expressions towards Arayik Harutyunyan. “Media Advocate” Initiative urges media outlets (hayeli.am, 7or.am) not to go beyond politeness and not to publish articles that are clearly offensive to this or that person.
Young Scientists Susanna Gevorgyan, Astghik Zoryan and Hrayr Azizbekyan alarm that funding for the Young Scientists Support Program (YSAF) has been suspended since the revolution. It is noted that they have applied to Arayik Harutyunyan to solve the issue, but the matter still remains pending.
The aforementioned helps us conclude that besides the problems existing in the spheres of the ministry that Arayik Harutyunyan leads, he has many problems in the media field, regardless of his professional activity.
