YEREVAN, JUNE 28, NOYAN TAPAN. "The Arno Babajanian Foundation intends to build a house-museum dedicated to the great composer in Yerevan but the city authorities have not solved the issue of allocating a land plot," the composer's son, the chairman of the foundation Arayik Babajanian said at the June 27 joint press conference with the chairmen of the Creative Unions of Armenia. According to him, they applied to the mayor's office on this issue as far back as 2001. A. Babajanian said that they applied to Yerevan mayor Yervand Zakharian in February 2007. Although the mayor assured them that the problem of the museum construction will be quickly dealt with, so far there has been no official response from the mayor's office. In the words of the composer's son, Russian intellectuals are concerned over the issue of building Arno Babajanian's house-museum in Yerevan so they sent an open letter to Armenian intellectuals. The director of the Armenian branch of the Arno Babajanian Foundation Jacques Hakoian noted that this problem worries Armenian intellectuals as well, and "the impression that everybody in Armenia has forgotten Arno Babajanian is wrong." The press conference participants decided to apply to the president and the prime minsiter of Armenia on the issue of allocating a land plot for the museum.

---