Narek Karapetyan: Artsakh Armenians in Armenia should have one main institution to address their problems

ArmInfo.  Artsakh Armenians should have one main institution in Armenia, within which all the necessary processes to resolve their problems will be organized. Head of the parliamentary faction “Strong Armenia” Narek Karapetyan stated this on September 15 in a conversation with journalists at the National Assembly.

The opposition faction leader noted that they are ready to accept the invitation of the Artsakh authorities to participate in political consultations. "We will be glad to meet and are ready to accept the invitation. As for the format, the most important issue for us is the protection of the rights of Artsakh Armenians. This is precisely the direction in which we need to work. Artsakh Armenians currently face the problem of a lack of housing, especially amid rising apartment prices. They cannot purchase a home with the amounts provided to them (under the government program - editor’s note); in addition, Artsakh Armenians living in the regions are facing mass unemployment," Karapetyan stressed.

In this regard, he said, it is necessary to create an organization that will also deal with preserving Artsakh’s cultural heritage. "That is, a cultural center should be established where the Artsakh dialect will be preserved so that the new generation can speak it. If this is not done, in a few years we will face a problem - a cultural problem. Of course, the main goal is to protect the right of Artsakh Armenians to return safely. But before that, we need to establish contact and ensure their organization," the faction leader explained.

Speaking about whether the Artsakh authorities should continue their activities in Armenia, he noted that their political force had already presented its position on this issue.  "We said that Artsakh Armenians should have one main institution in the country to organize all the processes necessary to resolve their problems," Karapetyan summarized.

It should be recalled that on September 10, Artsakh State Minister Nzhde Iskandaryan announced the launch of political consultations with parliamentary and non-parliamentary political forces of the Republic of Armenia to determine the range of forces planning to interact with the authorities of the NKR. As the NKR state minister explained, the purpose of the consultations is to clarify how Armenia’s political forces envision further activities and cooperation with the Artsakh authorities, what their position is on preserving the state institutions of the NKR and protecting the rights of the Artsakh people, and how ready they are to take practical steps in these areas. According to him, the issue of terminating or continuing the activities of the Artsakh authorities can no longer remain at the level of assumptions, individual statements or political silence.