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Armenian National Assembly Speaker Alen Simoyan hit back at opposition Hayastan faction MP Armenuhi Kyureghyan who recalled an incident in which the speaker spat at an ARF activist in 2023.

"Some people target their critics on Facebook, while others directly spit them in the face, so ..." Kyureghyan, an ARF member, said at a parliament session on Tuesday, addressing the speaker.

Alen Simonyan came under fire after he spat at opposition activist Garen Megerdichian who branded him a “traitor” in the Cascade, a popular pedestrian area in central Yerevan, in April last year.

Megerdichian claimed that Simonyan ordered his bodyguards to grab his hands before swearing at him and spitting in his face. The activist was then briefly detained by police.

Simonyan asked the opposition deputy not to refer to the incident any more.

"Unlike some people, I admitted my mistake and apologized for the wrong act committed in response to the insult. I urge others who made mistakes to offer apologies as well,” he said.

“I ask you not to recall this incident from now on, otherwise I can remind you of so many things about your party, which has more than 100 years of history, that there is not enough time," Simonyan added.