Trees on Aharonian Street Are Not Being Cut Down Illegally: Spokesman for Yerevan Mayor

Trees on Aharonian Street in the Zeytun district are not being cut down illegally. This was stated by the spokesman for the Yerevan Mayor, Hakob Karapetyan, during a conversation with Tert.am, responding to residents' complaints that healthy trees are being cut down for the construction of a new building.

Residents of Aharonian Street contacted the editorial office of Tert.am to report on the tree cutting. Hakob Karapetyan clarified that the construction is being carried out under a program initiated by the Alumni Association of Yerevan State University, which began a few years ago, aiming to construct apartments for young specialists in Avan and Zeytun.

“This is the next phase of that program, and this project envisages that those trees need to be cut down, and naturally, the developer is obliged to carry out significant landscaping works in the area they are constructing,” he said. “The tree has remained unharmed during this time, but they have now reached a phase where they can no longer avoid cutting it down,” he added.

When asked if cutting down the trees before new landscaping contradicts the greening policy adopted by the mayor's office, Karapetyan stated that during any construction process, the municipality sets demands that the construction area must be adequately landscaped. “If green areas are damaged in the construction zone, the damage must be compensated as much as possible, meaning that more must be restored than has been harmed. Here, we lose one tree, but as a result of the construction, we will have more green areas, especially since the construction permit was granted several years ago,” he noted.

Karapetyan assured that efforts are currently being made to ensure that green areas, especially healthy trees, are not harmed. When asked if the trees would still be cut down regardless of residents' complaints, the mayor's spokesman responded that this is not illegal cutting but is being carried out within the framework of a permit granted a few years ago.