Who Owns Yerevan?

Published in March, '07, by Vahan Ishkhanyan, an interesting observation;

"In reality, and in ways that matter most to average citizens and especially to small business owners, the city { Yerevan } belongs to organized, sometimes criminalized, clans – “akhperutyuns”, or brotherhoods, that assert their power through their position or connections."

Vahan gives presents a more realistic image of the Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia than do all the media. The official press would have you believe Yerevan is a model city, the bloggers agenda is primarily dissent, and sometimes revolutionary. And the poets of Armenia ( as elsewhere ) are so dark, and moody one would think the sun never shines on Yerevan.

Sociologist Harutyunyan is quoted;

“An early capitalist-feudal system has emerged in Armenia,” says sociologist Harutyunyan. “The country did not outlive other eras. A slave has become a slave owner. No other model works. The layers that remained in people’s sub-consciousness woke up and at once they restored the feudal order.”

A reader might think the author is speaking of New York, as he describes the of crime and politics into the web of deceit we call 'Government'.