Refugees demand a political solution to Karabakh problem

Today, in Yerevan, refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh have held a protest action in front of the Armenian government building, the UN office, and the embassies of the Co-Chair countries of the OSCE Minsk Group.

The refugees demand from the authorities to raise the political aspect of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem, says Levon Airiyan, the head of the NGO “In the name of Gadrut”.

Levon Airiyan does not exclude the return of Gadrut residents and, in general, refugees from Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh, “but only in case if the national liberation struggle starts there.” “If Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) is not given status either as a part of Armenia or as an independent country, not a single Armenian will remain there. And today, Vladimir Putin declares that ‘Karabakh is Azerbaijan’ and there is no question of its status. This means that there will be no security guarantees for Armenians in Artsakh. This means that we were returned 30 years ago,” Levon Airiyan told the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent.

Despite the fact that today, the refugees from Artsakh demand from the Armenian authorities a solution to their housing problem, this does not mean that they have forgotten about their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh, Levon Airiyan emphasizes. According to him, “the refugees are ready to return to their homes, even if only fragments are left of them, but these territories should be returned to the Armenian side. “There can be no life in Nagorno-Karabakh until the borders of 1994 are restored,” Levon Airiyan emphasizes.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 12, 2021 at 03:30 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.