Activists in Yerevan demand to recognize Nagorno-Karabakh

On the Commemoration Day of Armenian Genocide Victims, a picket demanding recognition of the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh was held in Yerevan.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on April 17, Arthur Vanetsyan, the leader of the "Airenik" Party and the head of the parliamentary faction "I have the honour", and his supporters announced a round-the-clock protest action in Freedom Square in Yerevan. In the afternoon on April 18, the activists, Nver Kirakosyan and Arthur Avagyan, joined them and went on a hunger strike aiming to draw Armenians' attention to the problem of Nagorno-Karabakh status. On April 22, Messrs Kirakosyan and Avagyan stopped their hunger strike and claimed that they would continue their struggle by other methods.

On April 24, activists organized a picket under the slogan "Recognize Artsakh!" (the self-name of Nagorno-Karabakh, – note of the "Caucasian Knot") at the memorial erected in memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide committed in the Ottoman Turkey in 1915. The picketers demanded to recognize the independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

The message of the action was addressed both to Armenian authorities and to the international community, Arus Vardanyan, a picketer, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. According to her story, April 24 was chosen to recall the relevance of the Armenian Genocide in today's realities. The only thing that can put an end to the policy of Azerbaijan and Turkey towards Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh is its international recognition, she has stated.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 24, 2022 at 06:40 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.