It's not dreadful to hold events near the Temple of Garni, the law does not forbid it, says Vladimir Poghosyan, Director of the Agency for Historical Environment Protection and Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserves of the Armenian Ministry of Culture.
Poghosyan has told ArmInfo that the territories of the cultural and historical monuments assigned to the Ministry of Culture by the law can be leased out. "Furthermore, the matter concerns the event that actually advertises the ancient historical monument", he says.
As regards the closure of the Temple's territory because of the event, Poghosyan says that any institution, even if it is a cultural and historical monument or reserve, has the right to have at least one day-off in a month. He also points out that the Central Bank of Armenia has paid 1 mln 120 thsd AMD for the corporate party near the Temple of Garni.
For his part, Samvel Karapetyan, Head of the Research on Armenian Architecture, points out that the law has no criteria for such events. "Our society reacts to such phenomena extremely emotionally. Anyway, I think it is not convenient to hold parties in such places. In this context, I understand the public protest", he says.
To recall, on June 18 the Central Bank of Armenia held a corporate party near the Temple of Garni. Over 300 guests were present at the event.