YSU rector accuses minister of putting pressures on him, says he will not resign

Rector of Yerevan State University Aram Simonyan claims that education and science minister Arayik Harutyunyan is putting pressures on him recently but stated that he is not going to resign on his own.

Speaking to Aysor.am, the rector also refuted the minister’s statement that they during face-to-face meeting he as if said that “if criminal case is filed against me I need the university for defense.”

“I have not said I need the YSU… I said I must stay in the post of YSU rector to be able to defend myself, that’s it. The pressures against me are agreed with different circumstance, and one of them I believe is my party belonging [Aram Simonyan is Republican party member],” the rector stressed.

As to the minister’s comment that Aram Simonyan is urgently convening sessions of YSU Scientific Council to speak about pressures and discuss issues of his further tenure Simonyan said that the minister is not aware that the session of the Scientific Council are being planned beforehand, few months before it and a schedule is being adopted.

“The minister is not aware of it. Today’s session is a regular one, planned few months before. He does not imagine the work style, the rules of the Scientific Council. I have never panicked and will never do. Let him not tie hopes with it,” he said.

Simonyan also stressed that he does everything for the current tension not to have any influence on education process and not to harm the education quality.