Yerevan mayor resigns

The Mayor of Yerevan, Gagik Beglaryan, has resigned. He made the
 decision after events following the kidnapping of a member of the
 protocol department of the president's office, Aram Kandayan.

The problem started at a concert by Placido Domingo on December 3. The
wife of Gagik Beglaryan and her friend took the seat near Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan, violating protocol. Protocol in Armenia dictates
that only the Catholicos of All-Armenians, the head of the National
Assembly of Armenia and the Prime Minister are allowed to sit next to
the president. Aram Kandayan asked the wife of Beglaryan to change her
seat. The request offended her husband.

Gagik Beglaryan decided to punish the member of the protocol
department. He asked the head of the president's office, Karen
Karapetyan, to organize his meeting with Kandayan. Beglaryan took
Kandayan to the Metaks factory and beat him up. Aram Kandayan told the deputy
head of the president's office, Mikhail Minasyan, about the problem.
Minasyan phoned the mayor of Yerevan and President Serzh Sargsyan. The president demanded that Karapetyan give an
explanation.

The president's office started a boycott against the mayor. The
president refuses to meet or listen to Beglaryan. Karapetyan's
telephones have been switched off. Beglaryan has confessed to his actions.

The president's press-secretary, Armen Arzumanyan, said that the president considers such
behaviour unacceptable for state functionaries.