Over 1400 persons support opponents of changing Nagorno-Karabakh status

On the fifth day of their hunger strike held in Yerevan, two activists have gathered over 1400 signatures against the attempts to change the status of Nagorno-Karabakh. The collection of signatures makes it possible to estimate the number of supporters of the action, Arthur Avagyan, one of the hunger-strikers, has stated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on April 17, Arthur Vanetsyan, the leader of the "Airenik" Party, and his supporters announced a round-the-clock protest action in Yerevan. On April 18, the activists, Nver Kirakosyan and Arthur Avagyan, joined them and went on a hunger strike in order to draw Armenians' attention to the problem of Nagorno-Karabakh status. They declared that they would move on to other forms of struggle when enough supporters have joined them.

On April 13, the Armenian Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, announced, referring to the international community, that it would be reasonable to "lower the bar" on the Karabakh status. Later, he ruled out an agreement with Baku without discussing the issue with Karabakh residents.

Messrs Kirakosyan and Avagyan continue their hunger strike for the fifth day in the Yerevan's Freedom Square. They set up a tent in which they sleep in sleeping bags. There, they are also collecting signatures against changing the Karabakh status.

Avagyan said that there were those who wanted to join their hunger strike, but they dissuaded them.

Vardan Aivazyan, an expert in the constitutional law, has explained that the Armenian legislation does not oblige the authorities to consider public initiatives.

"This is most likely a method to find out how many supporters the initiative has," he has explained.