"MER HAYRENIK" IS NOT ARF DASHNAKTSUTYUN’S ANTHEM

Lragir, Armenia
Dec 21 2006

On the second day of the extraordinary meeting of the National Assembly
Speaker Tigran Torosyan did not put the bill on the anthem of the
Republic of Armenia to voting. "The voting will be tomorrow morning,"
said Speaker Tigran Torosyan to news reporters.

His decision not to put the question to voting gave rise to opinions
that the speaker of the National Assembly was not sure the outcome
would be as they had planned. Tigran Torosyan disagrees, "We must be
very responsible towards this question, and Armenia cannot start 2007
without an anthem."

During the debate on this bill the focus was on the provisional article
of the bill that "Mer Hayrenik" is our anthem until the adoption of
a new anthem. Tigran Torosyan thinks that the government, which is
the author of the bill, will not have withdrawn this provision. The
main opponent of the bill was the ARF Dashnaktsutyun.

In this connection, Tigran Torosyan noticed that it is wrong to
think that "Mer Hayrenik" is the anthem of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun,
and reminded that "Mer Hayrenik" was the anthem of Armenia in the
early 20th century and until December 6, 2006.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress