A blow to Artsakh people is a blow to all Armenians

ArmInfo. Below is a statement by the We Are movement. 

Lately, representatives of the RA government and Nikol Pashinyan  himself have been making unacceptable remarks about the people of  Artsakh, which inflames anti-Artsakh sentiments in some circles.

Contrary to the majority of the people of Armenia, who accepted the  plight of the Artsakh citizens who lost their homeland as their  personal pain, there are those among high-ranking government  officials who reprimand the Artsakh citizens for leaving their home  and land, where they have lived for thousands of years.

The absurdity of the situation is that the incompetent policies of  the current authorities have led the Artsakh issue to such a critical  turning point. Continuing their propaganda of falsehoods and lies,  Pashinyan declares that he knew in 2018 that Karabakh could not be  part of Armenia, despite announcing in 2019 in Stepanakert Square,  "Artsakh is Armenia, and that's it." By claiming that the main goal  of the Artsakh exodus was to overthrow his government in Armenia or  that an Armenian Artsakh would lead to Armenia becoming a "province  of Russia," Pashinyan once again reveals not only his superficial  understanding of the Karabakh conflict but also consciously distorts  the history and essence of the Artsakh problem.

Today, not only the future of the people of Artsakh but also their  past is being questioned. Our victories and achievements are being  devalued, with attempts from the highest podiums to attack our  dignity and honor.

The uncalculated and short-sighted policies of the Armenian  authorities regarding the citizenship, free movement, and  documentation of Artsakh residents, as well as the proposal of  housing projects without taking into account the views of Artsakh  residents, undermine the importance of dialogue about our present and  future.

The "We Are" civil initiative expresses its indignation at the  multilateral discrimination, attempts to torpedo the solutions to  many problems faced by the Artsakh people, and the Armenian  authorities' support for Azerbaijan's aspirations to remove the  Artsakh problem from the international political agenda.

We are grateful for everything being done for the people of Artsakh  at various levels, but we believe that reducing the Artsakh issue to  merely financial support is unacceptable. We need political and legal  support, protection of our rights on international platforms,  systemic and strategic solutions to our political problems, and tact  and empathy.

The Armenian authorities must finally realize that a blow to the  Artsakh people is a blow to all Armenians.

We call on political leaders and legal experts to assess the legality  of the current authorities' rhetoric.