Artsakh residents held a protest in front of the Armenian parliament, demanding that the country’s competent authorities address their problems

ArmInfo. A group of Artsakh residents held a protest rally in front of the building of the National Assembly of Armenia on September 17. They demanded that the authorities take concrete steps to address their pressing  problems.

Speaking to journalists, Anastас Israelyan, chairman of the “Reviving Artsakh” organization and former member of the Council for the Protection of the Rights of Artsakh Residents, said that the rally participants intend to appeal to the heads of the parliamentary factions with a demand to hold hearings in the National Assembly of Armenia. Israelyan explained that they expect clear decisions from state institutions on issues that have remained unresolved for several years. “These problems must be resolved in Armenia. Clear answers must be provided so that Artsakh residents do not have to take to the streets every month. If at least some of these issues are resolved, Artsakh residents will be able to continue living in Armenia,” he said.

Members of the National Assembly of Armenia from the opposition “Armenia” faction, Artur Khachatryan and Lilit Galstyan, came out to the protesters. Israelyan noted that one of the rally participants’ main demands is the legislative consolidation of the status of Artsakh residents. “We are told that we are compatriots displaced from the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. But they do not say why this happened—because of an earthquake, a flood? It must be clearly established that we were forcibly displaced from our homeland under the threat of genocide. For this, we want hearings to be held,” the chairman of the “Reviving Artsakh” organization stated.

Secondly, according to Israelyan, Artsakh residents are demanding a solution to their social problems. He noted that this issue has remained unresolved for three years already. “We demand that the resolution of these issues not be dragged out for years and that Artsakh residents not be forced to take to the streets every time. We also want to resolve this issue through hearings,” Israelyan noted.

Khachatryan, in turn, stated that their political force is doing everything possible to keep these issues on the agenda. According to him, they are also raising the issue of the deliberate destruction of Artsakh’s heritage. “It is unacceptable to me that Gandzasar is being called Albanian today. Opposition representatives responded to this using the methods available to them, in particular by sending a letter aimed at organizing a meeting with the European Union’s Special Representative for the South Caucasus, Magdalena Grono,” the lawmaker reported.

Touching upon the issue of the return of Artsakh residents, Khachatryan noted that, in their opinion, this topic must constantly remain on the agenda. “In particular, the issue of the return of Artsakh residents, the return of Armenian prisoners of war, and the preservation of cultural heritage. As for the status of Artsakh residents, certain discussions on this issue have already been held with UN representatives, which were also attended by representatives of Artsakh,” the opposition figure added.  In turn, Galstyan reported that a working discussion organized by her as chairwoman of the standing parliamentary committee on the protection of human rights and public affairs will take place on September 23 at 14:00 in Room 334 of the National Assembly of Armenia. According to her, representatives of various Armenian state agencies related to the socio- economic rights of Artsakh residents, as well as representatives of international organizations, have been invited to the discussion. “All issues will be discussed there, including housing and the status of Artsakh residents,” Galstyan reported.

At the same time, she emphasized that the opposition is in the minority, so not all problems can ultimately be resolved. “But this mechanism cannot be left unused. At the same time, it must be understood that the problems of Artsakh residents are not the problem of a particular political force, but constitute a nationwide problem,” the lawmaker concluded.

It should be recalled that on September 19, 2023, Azerbaijan, under the pretext of an “anti-terrorist operation,” launched large-scale aggression against Artsakh, which led to the complete de-Armenianization of the NKR. This was preceded by an almost 10-month blockade of the republic. As a result of the enemy aggression that began in the fall of 2020 and culminated in the complete ethnic cleansing of Artsakh in September 2023, more than 150 thousand Artsakh residents lost their homeland and became refugees.