Karabakh activists call for joining new public movement

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The Council for the Protection of the Rights of the People of Nagorno-Karabakh announced its reorganization into an open public movement, the purpose of which is to protect the political and social rights of refugees. Activists called on all concerned citizens to join the movement.

As "Caucasian Knot" wrote, the Council for the Protection of the Rights of the People of Nagorno-Karabakh announced a mass rally and march on July 12, calling on the church and all political forces to support the demands of the refugees. On the eve of the rally, the police summoned the organizers of the action for a talk. Yerevan City Hall rejected applications to hold a march and sit-in after the rally. The refugee rally continued with an indefinite sit-in protest demanding that the Armenian authorities resolve the problems of internally displaced persons. The protesting refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh submitted their demands to the Armenian government, but the authorities refused to fulfill them. The Council for the Protection of the Rights of Karabakh Citizens stated that the street actions did not produce the expected results.

The Council for the Protection of the Rights of the People of Nagorno-Karabakh issued a statement on August 8, in which it said that "the structure has been reorganized and will continue to operate as an open public movement." It is noted that the goals and movements have remained the same.

The statement says that "civil servants and representatives of the five parliamentary factions of the National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) will not be part of the Council", it is explained that such a decision was made due to the "exclusively public nature of the Council".

"We will continue to cooperate with government agencies in all initiatives that serve the interests of the people of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). We are ready to cooperate with all individuals and organizations operating in Armenia and the Diaspora and engaged in the protection of the rights of the people of Artsakh (Karabakh). In order to unite efforts, we plan to initiate meetings and discussions with similar structures operating in the Republic of Armenia in the near future. We call on all concerned compatriots to join in the active participation in the work of the council for effective work in protecting the rights of the Artsakh (Karabakh) people,” the statement reads.

“The initial plans of the council are to travel to the regions of Armenia in order to create centers to mobilize the forcibly displaced and involve them in the work of protecting the rights of refugees, as well as to understand which problems have been solved, which are being solved or are not being considered at all,” Saida Poghosyan, a member of the Council for the Protection of the Rights of the People of Nagorno-Karabakh, told a “Caucasian Knot” correspondent on August 9, adding that “the Artsakh issue is not closed.”

“We will also continue to voice demands to the government of Armenia. By the way, they did not fulfill all the promises given to the council during the negotiations in May,” Poghosyan noted.

“From the very beginning, the Council pursued a pan-Armenian goal - to ensure broad unity around the Artsakh issue. Unfortunately, the indifference and non-participation of some public circles were obvious. Now it is clear to everyone that the key to success is unity, which was not the case. That is why we are resuming meetings in Yerevan and planning regional visits, seeking to unite new forces, attract active and interested people, and form a united public movement for the political and social rights of the people of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh),” council member Apres Markaryan told the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent.

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