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Negative media reports on Armenia’s Minister of Health Arsen Torosyan prevail, the Media Advocate initiative said in a statement on Thursday, presenting the results of its monitoring. The statement reads:

"From 1 to 10 August, 2020, the Media Advocate initiative followed online media reports on Armenian Minister of Health Arsen Torosyan’s personality and activities.

35 leading Armenian news agencies have been monitored․

In the specified period, 333 articles were declared, 176 of which were negative, 157 were neutral.

The negative articles published on Minister of Health Arsen Torosyan exceeded the number of neutral ones this time, no positive articles were declared.

The confrontation between the former head of the SCS (State Control Service) Davit Sanasaryan and Arsen Torosyan continues. According to Davit Sanasaryan, Arsen Torosyan must appear in the court as a witness. There will be surprising questions. He added: “If my powers had not been terminated, I would not have allowed the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption to study the case, because there is a specialized structure to deal with it, I would have instructed my employees to study and see how it turned out that he is a minister and makes a 170 million deal with a medical center run by his wife with a single purchase and without holding a tender. Let the relevant bodies find out, the prosecutor’s office also has something to do here.”

According to Marine Sukiasyan, who represents the Alternative Projects Group initiative, “Arsen Torosyan failed the fight against the epidemic, but he failed that case with others, that is, not alone. He failed the medical side of the disaster, but the deaths that exceeded 1000 have not stopped and this is not only a healthcare problem. Such a situation in a small country, where currently 40.000 patients are officially registered, can not go unnoticed. More than 1,000 deaths are not anonymous figures that are presented to the public every morning. Each of them is a personal, family tragedy.”

According to the press, Arsen Torosyan will be dismissed soon, the names of the candidates replacing Arsen Torosyan are even being discussed, they, by the way, according to various sources, are sponsored by the Prime Minister’s wife, Anna Hakobyan.

Tehmina Vardanyan, a member of Yerevan Council of Elders from the Luys fraction, thinks that Arsen Torosyan should resign: “It is clear that Arsen Torosyan’s great desire for the cult of his personal self exceeds the permissible limit, he does not stand anyone’s competence and professionalism. Do you know why? Complex, it is a pure complex. Of course, it is more difficult to work with a person with his own standpoint and qualities, on the same level, so that the advantages of the other person are not vivid. But not in this difficult situation. And, indeed, if there is anyone who has to resign, it is you, Mr. Torosyan. Respect us, respect the people and leave! For God’s sake, leave…”

Recently, the director of Nork Infectious Diseases Clinical Hospital, Mher Davidyants, resigned. It was mentioned in the press that Arsen Torosyan will appoint his close friend Hovhannes Madoyan as the director of Nork Infectious Diseases Clinical Hospital, who has certain ties with Soros and is the program consultant of the “Real World, Real People” NGO. The latter is a prominent Soros-related specialist who has been working in an NGO for more than 15 years, and is engaged in defending the interests of HIV-infected people."