A video circulating on the Internet shows Governor of Syunik province Surik Khachatryan denigrating environmental activist Mariam Sukhudyan, at one point calling the young woman a “dragonfly”.

The incident happened earlier this week, when environmentalists visited Qajaran village, in the governor’s province to get information regarding the territories of Qajaran, Artsvanik, Sevakar, Atchanan, Chapni and Syunik communities which have been handed over by a government decision to Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Plant.

The video has gained attention largely because it demonstrates another case of the official in a confrontation with a woman. Just last month, Khachatryan was cleared of assault charges in an incident (caught on hotel security cameras) in which he slapped a businesswoman who had provoked him.

Sukhudyan says the meeting in Qajaran turned into a “show”.

“The villagers were surprised: the governor has never visited them before. He behaved quite rudely, he threatened all the time. It was like a conversation in a bazaar,” she says describing the governor’s meeting with the villagers.

Ashot Karamyan, head of the Public Relations Department at the Syunik province governor's office told ArmeniaNow by telephone that Governor Khachatryan had already given his response concerning the video material and hung up the phone; later he stopped answering calls.

In an interview with mass media, Khachatryan said that he sees nothing bad in the word “dragonfly”. (The word in Armenian – “tchpour” – is often used as an insult, meaning someone of no significance.)

“She is a dragonfly; that is why I called her a dragonfly. I don’t understand what is insulting in that word. ‘Dragonfly’ is a sweet word, and it is not insulting at all,” Khachatryan said and refuted that there was tension during their meeting. “She [Sukhudyan] said that the ecology of the territory is bad, and I told her to be careful so that nothing bad happens to her. She was holding a picket, and I told her to be careful so that nothing happens to her. Shame on them, if they say that I have threatened her. We have departed saying good words to each other. I told them good-bye and asked to turn to me in case they have a problem.”